Miss España Niebla Mental LP
I have a soft spot for bands with female vocals, that are bass-heavy, danceable, and bouncy but at their core still aggressive punk music, that are fun but simultaneously say “fuck you” to the world, especially bands from the turn of the ’00s and ’10s. MISS ESPAÑA reminds me of that era, from WETDOG to XYX. The bass/synth/drums trio keeps a constant groove that is as danceable as no wave mutant disco, although with a gloomy atmosphere—aggressively hitting beats are all over the record like clouds above a doomed party. The whole album is really tight, with clever songwriting that makes melancholy bouncy. Another scene that comes to my mind is Swiss post-punk, with the obvious melodies of CHIN CHIN and the KICK along with the rough fun of GLUEAMS. So many references, but MISS ESPAÑA does stand out from the masses (I rarely hear such music, at least). Great record.