TRACKLIST: 01 Piropos

“Nainonai” was the last trip we got from that special duo Fermí and Conxita. And “Piropos” is the last stop on a marvelous journey, a song that has all the best of TRONCO: a little kick in its step, lyrics that are full of life, affection and excitement. And to celebrate this goal, they made a video with someone who had already worked with them on the video for “La Procrastinadora”, to make the perfect tandem of music and image: Raquel Calvo aka DondeEstaMiPollo (who has already made videos for OS PEREGRINOS, Giorgio Tuma, THE HEPBURNS, Lia Pamina, LOS BONSÁIS, MARINITA PRECARIA, Soleá Morente …). The result is absolutely incredible: a trademark exercise in collage, textures, buttons, and fabrics, with our protagonists represented as images from what could be Jim Henson’s wildest dreams, and compliments (piropos, in Spanish), and magic, and fun, and laughter, and excitement. It’s wonderful. To call this piece a music video is to sell it short. We could even call it, if you will, a visual Popema. Enjoy it. We are anxiously awaiting new material from both artists.

[ Read more ]

“Nainonai” is the album that has definitively confirmed the existence of the TRONCO universe – the universe of Fermí and Conxita. Their specific collective imagination, which could draw from Boris Vian and VAINICA DOBLE, somewhere between the mundane and the abstract, has ultimately given shape to an album that is a fantastic journey in and of itself. It is special and unique. We are still recovering some of their songs, like the marvelous “Demasiadas Veces”. A Sardana-style flute, a touch of cha-cha-cha and another touch of bolero, and above all that way they have of saying things. On this occasion, Níquel (Alberto León) and Inés Azagra have made a video that is an allegory in and of itself, another fantastic, singular journey, making it clear that TRONCO is all about their imagination. Creating uncertainty around what has always been held to be true. Making a game out of questioning things and making poetry out of the impossible. They are unique. The only thing you have to do is let yourself be carried you.

[ Read more ]

We need more groups like TRONCO. Fresh, personal, spontaneous, sincere, with a well-tuned sense of humor, who build a sense of the everyday out of the most incomprehensible fantasy, in a way that feels natural. They do things their way. And with their eloquence, their ingenuity, and their simplicity, they convince you they are right. Now, after “Tralará” we have “Nainonai”. Their sound made sublime, if we can say that about Fermí and Conxita, thanks in large part to the participation of Eloy Bernal (NELEONARD, DIE KATAPULT). This combination is the cocktail that makes “Nainonai” an authentic gem, the “Popemas” of this generation. It is a pop delicacy made with attitude, fantasy and imagination; an authentic work of art, the kind that just happens, without planning and without pretentions.

We are going to do a full-on unboxing here. Because the occasion requires nothing less. Off goes the plastic wrap. This beautiful vinyl, with evocative cover art by Andrea Ganuza (based on the Scorsese movie “The Age Of Innocence”, one of Conxita’s favorite movies) is the gateway to the marvelous 12-page liner notes!  With illustrations by Lucas Naranjo, and water color paintings by Conxita herself, based on the children’s book “Frog And Toad Together” by Arnold Lobel, the journey through the album’s lyrics begins. To enjoy them as if they were a children’s story (for all ages). [ Read more ]

We are dying for you to hear “Nainonai”, the second album from TRONCO. It is different and special – one of those small albums that are pure gold and wind up becoming part of that unique selection of music that makes up the soundtrack of your life, the same way that NOSOTRÄSH’s “Popemas” or LE MANS’ debut did. That’s why, while we’re waiting, we are bringing you this new advance single that makes all the reasons we think this album is so special clear. Because “Volveré” has the pop essence of Adam Green, the endlessly childish air of THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, the love of roots that show the bits of playful rumba that Peret would definitely be crazy about. Because in less than two minutes, with the naivety of a child’s smile, it gets right to you and melts you from within.

Like that magnificent video directed by Laura Pascual, where Conxita finds herself in a sort of “Groundhog Day” that takes her from one place to the next, like on of Wes Anderson’s colorful tales, where fantasy and the mundane come together in harmony, like the “Worlds of Coraline” with a dose of sugar. Because that is how they are – Fermí and Conxita, Conxita and Fermí, like a speck of dust floating in space: it seems so normal and like you can just go right up to it, but then when you see it close up, you realize that there is nothing else like it in the whole world.

&nbs [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 Oso Panda (PAPA TOPO)  02 Pez En Bicicleta (TRONCO)  03 A Mí Ya Me Iba Mal De Antes (AIKO EL GRUPO) 04 Barakaldo (LISASINSON)  05 Colegas (FRED FREDBURGUER)  06 Cucurucho (GUATAFÁN)  07 Canción De Pop De Amor (CARIÑO) 08 Infectados (AXOLOTES MEXICANOS)  09 Secret Secret (PUSHY PARENTS)  10 Cumpleañera (GOMET) 11 Gente De Mierda (PUTOCHINOMARICÓN)  12 Malos Hábitos (NEVVER)  13 Braun (DIE KATAPULT)  14 Las Plantas De La Terraza (CHAVALES)  15 No Sé Por Qué (BAND À PART)  16 Capital (NELEONARD)  17 Pineapple Princess (CRISTINA QUESADA) 18 The West Coast (EDINE AVEC LISLE MITNIK ET SON ORCHESTRE)  19 Rain On My Face (CARBON POPPIES) 20 Ultramarinos (LOS BONSÁIS)  21 Campamento De Verano (TEACHER TEACHER)  22 La Fuerza (KOKOSHCA) 23 My Baby’s Just A Baby (But I Love Him So) (KNICKERS)  24 (Out Of) The Neighborhood (BELLE GHOUL)  25 Eat Tacos (WILD BALBINA) 26 Enough Is Enough (NATURE SET)  27 The Panda Bear Song (FOXES!)  28 El Fin De La Era (SAGRADO CORAZÓN DE JESÚS) 29 Cómo Es (LIA PAMINA)  30 Humo (NOS MIRAN)  31 El Chico Más Guapo De La Galaxia (CAPITÁN SUNRISE) 32 Ada Hoy Se Va A Enamorar (SAN FRANCISCO)

“New Adventures In Pop” collection [Issue 050]

If there is a collectio [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 La Casa De Tus Sueños

TRONCO is not your regular music group. Their personality is so natural and direct that it is completely unique and overwhelming. It is one of those things that makes life seem easy, beautiful, and fun. Like a game. Listening to them and enjoying their music is nothing less than a privilege, as we saw with “Tralará” and “Abducida Por Formar Una Pareja”. But their new album, which will be released in 2021, is a qualitative leap, and at the same time more of the same. We can detect the same sensations, but there is more maturity as well: in the lyrics, where Conxita was especially inspired; in the production, where Eloy Bernal’s work (NELEONARD, DIE KATAPULT) has been key in giving TRONCO’s sound the diversity and richness they needed.

So, to whet your appetites, we are bringing you one of the new songs that will be on “Nainonai”, that upcoming new release from this very special duo. And curiously, “La Casa De Tus Sueños” is a song that was already prepared for the live show from the “Tralará” era. With Elisa and Eloy Bernal acting as the counterpoint to Conxita and Fermí Herrero. With Laura Antolín (DOBLE PLETINA) on bass. And above all, there is a precious melody that gives a costumbrist and Mediterranean air, with echoes of Jonathan Richman, Serrat and THE MOLDY PEACHES. It is dreamy, almost oneiric, but so close it practically care [ Read more ]

Immediately after listening to “Tralará”, the first thought that comes to mind is that TRONCO is a like a group from a story. And now you’ll answer that with this kind of title the play on words is too easy. No. We hope nobody stops at the simplest reading. Not even because Conxitais an illustrator and has created such a special packaging for this album, comic included. No. Their songs are a journey to fantasia, with that mix of imagination and ingenuity, unpredictability and craziness, with just the right amount of irreverence and a certain punk spirit. Something like a Spanish YOUNG MARBEL GIANTS. Folk, pop, bedroom techno-pop, psychedelia, and, we already said it, punk. Yeah, you guessed it. They are unclassifiable. But for real.

Their first album already made it clear that their thing was breaking away, a sense of humor, feelings made out of scratches. “Tralará” maintains its dose of freshness, but grows significantly in musical terms. The musical diversity, very special arrangements and a long list of collaborators, including, obviously, Eloy Bernal (NELEONARD, GÚDAR) who recorded and produced the album, Anna Fredriksson (DIE KATAPULT), Laura Antolín (DOBLE PLETINA, GÚDAR), Elisa Bernal (HIBERNALES), Javi G. Lerín,Marc Ribera (DOBLE PLETINA) and Alberto Rodríguez (GÚDAR, TIRANA).

The thing is that these 15 new songs written by Conxita and Fermí Herrero make a sense of urge [ Read more ]

The Herrero siblings gave us a good look at their particular universe with that fantastic Mini-LP called “Abducida Por Formar Una Pareja”. Very soon we will have “Tralará”, their first full-length. Some people would talk about maturity, but they are allergic to that word. Others would talk about a step forward, but they are not moving in any definite direction. Conxita and Fermí let themselves be carried away by their overflowing imagination, and go wherever that takes them. Without restrictions. Without prejudice. And sometimes, without reservation. No matter what happens. 

Because their thing is to make the naive seem mature, and the grown-up seem innocent. It’s pure magic. What’s more, it’s a healthy exercise. How to laugh at yourself and reinvent yourself in an impossible way, all at the same time. And as proof, this taste of what will be that anticipated album: “Animales” is a perfect introduction. Dreamy and fragile, yet exultant. The most exact way they can be defined. It’s a kind of confession. Because that’s how they are. They don’t see themselves like other people. They don’t want to be like everyone else. And that’s why they have built their own world. The one they put together around a small yellow wooden chair in a video that goes with this advance Digital Single. Like fish and turtles, snails and other kinds of animals. They feel closer to them than to humans. [ Read more ]

TRONCO is a unique and very special group. That’s why it’s impossible to write something normal about them. A brother and sister form a band in a parallel solar system. Because TRONCO is from another planet. It’s the perfect first album for our “New Adventures In Pop” collection. They’re new, they’re young, they’re fresh and daring, but above all they are overflowing with talent. Conxita Herrero (Barcelona, 1993) draws, makes comics, fanzines, and writes poems and songs, and she is really good at all of it. Last year she published “Gran Bola De Helado” with Apa Apa Comics, her first book with 17 short stories, which became one of the most interesting comics of 2016. She has worked for VICE and El País Tentaciones, and she has collaborated on a ton of underground fanzines. Her work has appeared in publications and anthologies both nationally (Fosfatina) as well as internationally (Kus, Fantagraphics). She’s a total activist. Pure dynamite. On the other hand, Fermí Herrero (Barcelona, 1999) is happily in his last year of high school in Prat de Llobregat. When he grows up he wants to be an actor and/or make-up artist and/or engine driver. He enjoys good weather, life, and fruit. He is interested in ancient history and culture in general. As they themselves say, “he smells good and is a good dancer”. His favorite food is toxic people and he is in favor of churros and the sexual revolution. [ Read more ]