By late 1981, the San Sebasti\u00e1n-based group La Banda sin Futuro had already transformed into Derribos Arias. Initially, the band was a duo consisting of Poch and Alejo Alberdi, two seemingly opposite personalities who complemented each other perfectly, forming an almost inseparable partnership. Poch handled the guitar with a highly distinctive style\u2014his technique was not especially polished, but his imagination was boundless. Alejo got to work with a Korg MS-10 synthesizer and a Korg KR55 drum machine, modest tools that ensured their self-sufficiency while connecting them to the more adventurous side of post-punk. Both absorbed music from past and present in a natural and original way. <\/p>\n
Derribos Arias\u2019 first two singles dazzled critics eager for new ideas capable of placing Spanish pop alongside the contemporary music increasingly arriving from abroad in real time. \u2018Branquias bajo el agua\u2019, the standout track from the band’s debut single, topped the list of Best Songs of 1982 as voted by listeners of Diario Pop on Radio 3. <\/p>\n
With an expanded four-piece lineup and a larger budget than they had enjoyed for their earlier singles, the band entered the prestigious Kirios Studios to record their album, with Paco Trinidad serving as producer. The electric intensity of \u2018\u00cdntima decoraci\u00f3n\u2019 and \u2018Crematorio\u2019 \u2014angular, off-kilter reinterpretations of a strain of rock descended from The Velvet Underground and The Stooges, a style with virtually no precedent in Spain\u2014are excellent examples of the band\u2019s sound. To aberrate was the key term Poch used to describe his ineffable working method: a fearless creative freedom without which songs such as \u2018Lo que hay\u2019 could never have existed. The track stands as a leftfield proto-hip-hop number, later reworked as \u2018Disco pocho,\u2019 demonstrating both his admirable lack of prejudice and his complete disregard for any commercial ambitions the album might have had. Unfortunately, this album would never have a follow-up. <\/p>\n
\u201cEn la gu\u00eda, en el list\u00edn\u201d, publicado en 1983, quedar\u00e1 para siempre como un cuerpo extra\u00f1o en la historia del pop espa\u00f1ol al que es dif\u00edcil encontrar tanto precedentes como descendientes, un imperfecto y fascinante cat\u00e1logo de las muchas caras que Derribos Arias pod\u00edan ense\u00f1ar, promesa incumplida de una carrera truncada antes de llegar a su plenitud.<\/p>\n
Incluye notas interiores y reproducci\u00f3n del encarte original.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Released in 1983, \u201cEn la gu\u00eda, en el list\u00edn\u201d (\u201cIn the Directory, In the Phone Book\u201d) remains a permanent anomaly in the history of Spanish pop music, with few clear predecessors and even fewer descendants. It is an imperfect yet fascinating catalog of the many faces Derribos Arias could reveal\u2014a promise of greatness left unfulfilled when their career was cut short before reaching its full potential. <\/strong><\/p>\n