Frente Norte

Reviews

Frente Norte Ardiendo LP

If you were to pick up this record on cover art alone you’d assume that it was some kind of metal band and, well…you’d be wrong. Like way off. There’s a lot to unpack here. The vocals are gruff, but musically, this is kinda poppy but very simple-sounding; I don’t mean that in a disparaging way. It’s kind of all over the place musically and the vocals shouldn’t work with what’s going on here, but for some reason they do, and they are the biggest reason that I like this. The lyrics are sung in Spanish, which I think adds to the charm here. If they were sung in English, I think it would lose something. I think this record will be seeing a lot of time on the turntable around here.

Frente Norte Luchar y Ganar LP

A ripping slice of wax from this Toledo, Ohio punk/Oi! hybrid band. Not unlike fellow Midwesterners FUERZA BRUTA, who also know how to tear it up with chants and sing-alongs in Spanish, FRENTE NORTE adds a little extra jolt of positivity into the equation and even treds into pop on songs like “En La Esquina” without getting wimpy. There’s separate lyric sheets in Spanish and in English for the not so linguistically proficient such as myself which is very appreciated. Ranging from primitive NABAT-style gruff ragers like “Punk Sistema Alternativo” to AUSENCIA-like catchy fist raisers like “Atomico” to all-out feel good orchestrated COCK SPARRER anthems like “La Patrulla” there’s not really a dud here and it’s a good sell on a future trip to Toledo for this punker. Salud!