By the Zonagirante.com team @spinning zone

The surprising, strange, wonderful, exquisite and fascinating new releases found on the most independent of digital platforms are back: Bandcamp. We have material from Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Let's begin:

The Indomitable – Mystical delirium

What does this hidden gem, released in the last days of January of this year, sound like? First of all, some initial information to give you a rough idea before you make any further judgment. click on the key of play: Oscar Herrera, who is entirely responsible for this wonderful chaos, is, by trade, a sound designer for films and audiovisuals. Now imagine it's the wee hours of the morning and an unexpected crime with impossible sonic repercussions has been committed. A radio station has been taken over somewhere in Costa Rica, and, to the delight of the sleepless listeners, cumbia tunes, boleros, and other Latin genres begin to play, telling bizarre stories that take on even more of a life of their own with unexpected audio interventions, narratives, poems, and vinyl record spins that combine nostalgia and a glimpse into the future. Is it an album? There are seven tracks that confirm it. Could someone irresponsible mistake all this for one of those podcasts you find floating around? Maybe. Is it meant for dancing? Definitely. Is it meant to be recorded for sinking into the couch with headphones blasting and, while all this craziness plays, believing that joy can have a different, more irreverent skin? We suspect so. One of the best things we've heard so far this year. 

Bad Katalina – Manual for Monsters

It seems that, after many setbacks in recent years, There are good remnants of the pop punk that shone in other eras. A band from Mexico City, with a colorful graphic presentation, has continued down this path, and what they do sounds great. This is a six-song album with impeccable production that, if everything were fair in the record market (and we know it isn't, but fingers crossed), would receive the immediate attention of experts and investors., Because what they present in this compilation is solid, with interesting lyrics, clever melodies that stick in your memory immediately, and powerful instrumentation. Topics to highlight? Cereal Killer (it should be a hit on any rock radio station in the continent), Club of the Dead (a fascinating combination of acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies) and Radio Waves (the most aggressive of the tracks, with a clear desire to blow up the airwaves anywhere in the world). Some may find this EP too adolescent, but the truth is, The result is impeccable. 

Alter Atlas – The weight of the world

Now we're going to a more extreme, darker corner. Now we present a four-song EP that comes from the city of Bahía Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires. We peek into the hardcore side of life and listen to a production that offers no respite in its listening experience. From the very first second, the sound is caustic, guitar-driven, and sharp. The lyrics are ready for battle, poised to be heard by the captive tribe and (hopefully) a little beyond. It deserves to be heard anywhere in our hemisphere. The best part? The third track., Never again, which, we guess, may be a hymn to despair. Part of its lyrics go like this:

I still think exactly the same.
As you can see
the truth
I can't remember
what it was like to start
I understand that I cannot be
always like this
nothing else
knowing that it's wrong
to know the truth
just from what they say

What will it be like?
from the outside?
I honestly think
in not returning

 

It consists – Evidence

And finally, we go to Santiago, Chile, to hear what the authors themselves call «dark folk». Getting technical, What this quartet does is a kind of shoegaze (another fascinating label created by journalists three decades ago) with a furious female voice and insistent guitars full of various effects. Don't demand perfect vocal pitch. It's clear the singer can't compete on a TV show like The Voice or The X Factor, but honestly, His story is a thousand times more honest and credible than what any aspiring top 40 artist says. Here are two intense, unfriendly songs that seem to want to break down the walls, something that seems necessary these days.