April 14, 2011

Los Gatos Salvajes: 1960s Argentinian Garage Rock

This record—apparently now out of print—was playing last weekend in my local shop, Mississippi Records, and I was quickly charmed by its sincere take on classic garage rock. Los Gatos Salvajes—The Wild Cats—were apparently one of Argentina's first rock bands, playing from about 1964 to 1967, and were hugely influential in the evolution of Latin American rock music. The band's own influences are the obvious staples of the time period: greats like Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Four Tops and The Hollies, along with the occasional surf rock-inspired gem ("Ruta a Go Go"). I'm a sucker for music sung in foreign languages, as there's a certain romantic and hypnotic quality imbued in the songs when you have no idea what the musicians are singing about. For me, when I'm not discerning meaning, the pacing of the language and its syllables all become much more poetic and musical.

Los Gatos Salvajes - "Haras Lo Que Te Pida"
Los Gatos Salvajes - "Donde Vas"

Hollies

2 comments:

  1. How would I get my hands on purchasing this album? Can't really find it anywhere online...

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  2. iTunes, Emusic and Amazon have most of the songs digitally. The vinyl however is out of print (I believe). If you live in Portland, Mississippi Records has a copy or two left. If not, it'll take some digging. Good luck!

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