News from the front: ALGARA’s first LP is here. From Barcelona, the land where the CNT-FAI shined in 1936, now the anarchist bombs explode again through the twelve tracks of “Absortos en el Tedio Eterno”. Ever wondered what would have happened if the RONDOS and CRASS had joined forces at the Conway Hall or if AVIADOR DRO and ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO never had a couple of judo kicks and the four started a new band? Well, then you are close to imagining how ALGARA sounds. At times sparse militant punk a la CRISIS/ FALLOUT filtered thru the KGB/ SINIESTRO TOTAL machine. At times minimal synthetic idealist anthems, but always revolutionary, forward thinking, and making the sound their own. The anonymous collective self recorded “Absortos en el Tedio Eterno” in a Barcelona squat while engaging in their agitprop campaigns. With songs about poor working conditions, the constant evictions, youth unemployment, and a city consumed by tourism and other forms of gentrification, the LP is a cold call to arms for today’s political punk.

The LP sleeve shows members of the collective at one of their rendezvous point looking cool. Comes with an A2 double sided poster, 14 page Manual for Sound Guerrilla booklet and a sticker.


Our take: Apologies for rewriting Jeff’s staff pick from last week as my description, but he hit the nail on the head. I was intrigued by Algara’s earlier releases, but their first LP, Absortos En El Tedio Eterno is where everything comes together, a fantastic record rich with great songs and a stylistic three-dimensionality that keeps me coming back for repeated listens. Without sounding like anyone but themselves, Absortos En El Tedio Eterno incorporates everything from surfy punk to icy darkwave and a lot in between. While the songs cover a lot of stylistic ground, a few core elements of Algara’s sound—like the sassy vocals and the laid-back, surf-inflected lead guitar—carry through all the sounds they experiment with. In other words, it sounds like Algara knows what their strengths are, yet rather than rehashing the same ideas, they push themselves to recontextualize and recast what worked while pushing into new vistas. Beyond being ambitious and exciting, it’s just a fun record to listen to, its laid-back grooves drawing you in without exhausting your attention. Also like Jeff, my poor facility with Spanish leaves me mystified by the band’s image, but it’s aesthetically compelling even if I’m not able to get much from it philosophically. I’m jealous of those of you who can engage with Absortos En El Tedio Eterno on that level, because the depth of thought they put into the photography and packaging here (particularly the insert booklet) is obvious. I see this one serving a long tour of duty in my “recently listened” pile.