Essential Listening: Los Bitchos

Los Bitchos are quite possibly the coolest band I’ve ever had the privilege to review. The fact that five young women based in gloomy London can provide some of the catchiest instrumental music I’ve ever heard… Well it’s truly astonishing. Usually British bands have a habit of musical reflection. Take all the dark indie bands out of Manchester or the gritty punk bands from Nottingham as prime examples of this. But Los Bitchos take you to an altogether different and wonderful place.

Listening to their cumbia rhythms and uplifting guitar lines takes me to the sandy shores of America, both North and South. The Latin flavoured grooves get me dancing every single time. Incorporating unusual percussion and keytar just adds the many layers of their spectacular sound. Their music videos feature palm trees and margaritas, a combination of 60’s and 90’s aesthetic. Unusual guitars and clothes, humour, wit. They simply emanate cool. So cool in fact, that I showed my mum. She approves. There is simply nothing in the U.K. right now that sounds quite like this. It’s no wonder that they have been signed to the same label as forerunners of sound Black Midi. Though these bands are light years apart musically, they share that same uniqueness that make them so great. In such dark times we need more of this unusual music in our lives.

Usually I save a section of a review to critique a band, not at their detriment, but because I try to help bands go even further with what they have. But alas, Los Bitchos cannot be criticised. Not because they are perfect, there’s no such thing in my opinion. But simply because of how different they are. When a band presents something so special, so utterly brilliant in both concept and sound, critiquing them feels akin to blasphemy. Every single day I get another band sending me their music and this is the first time in a long time I have been truly blown away. And I found Los Bitchos entirely by accident! Not to say that the other bands I’ve been reviewing aren’t good bands, they certainly are. But Los Bitchos sound like nothing else I’ve ever heard and have sparked my interest in this genre. There have only been five or six occasions in my life where a band has opened my eyes like this. I immediately want to go down the rabbit hole of cumbia music and see just how deep it goes. Just like how Slaves got me into punk, or The Smiths did for indie, Los Bitchos have started a revolution in my musical landscape. This is essential listening for everyone who reads this. It is a religious experience if I’ve ever had one. Do yourself a favour and open your mind to the wonder, mirth and utter glee that is Los Bitchos.

Peace, Love and Cowbells,

Oscar