You guys know how active the Colombian punk scene is these days, I've
reviewed and
mentioned a lot of great bands
during the past months and here is another one. Infra is from
Bogota, Colombia, and features members from a few killer raw/street punk
acts you may have heard of before:
Tumbas,
Secta Suicida,
Sin Reaccion,
Rito,
Phonophobia
and
Doble Moral.
So yes these guys are really into the UK82-inspired street punk sound
which has shaped the way many Colombian bands have roared like over the
past decade.
Recently released on vinyl by the Irish/Polish label Going Postal Records, Camiza de Fuerza collects the two tapes self-released by the band in 2019 in 2020: La Hora Del Fin recorded in late 2018 and Camisa de Fuerza recorded in 2020.
Let's starts with La Hora Del Fin (the vinyl B side): with five
tracks of fast and mean raw punk leaning towards D-beat, Infra's
not looking for subtlety but rather for the raw and direct power of an
in-your-face gnarly punk.
Think of The Varukers and The Undead moving to
Colombia around 1985... well we actually don't even need to mention the
brits as the almighty
Primer Regimen
already shaped a whole generation of Colombian punk rock with their mix of
UK82/D-beat and 2000s Street punk (members of
Primer Regimen actually play with members of Infra in the
already mentioned Tumbas and Secta Suicida). And damn...
Infra delivers exactly what I expect from this kind of band, it's
loud, fast, violent and super enjoyable! Of course it's extremely
predictable but who cares, that's all we like.
Perfect!
Let's jump to the A side (Camisa de Fuerza
side) and its eight tracks from 2020.
In a little less than two years the band has kept all its energy and its
mastery of a hard-hitting and efficient punk rock but has also added a
certain amount of melody embodied by guitar passages that orient the band
towards a certain kind of street punk of which I am less fond. Yes, this was already a bit the case on the 2019 tape, but it was still much more raw. Of course
there is
Peligro Social, which is the perfect counter example as I'm a big fan of the
San-Francisco based band, but in general I get really quickly bored by
lame melodies played by uninspired guitarists in street punk bands with
slight oi! influences.
But ok, frankly I'm a bit harsh, it's another great release, very
enjoyable in spite of those few melodic passages that are quite avoidable
in my opinion. I read somewhere a comparison with the 80s Swedish band
Puke, and even if I'm not really familiar with their discography I
can indeed see the link with their
1987 LP
where raw punk doesn't reject little doses of melody.
But if I want to stay in bands singing in Spanish I should rather mention
the early materials of
Invasiòn / Destino Final
from Barcelona,
Germen
from Buenos Aires (in a more hardcore punk way maybe) but most of all
their friends from
Trampa
and
Reaccion Violenta
from Bogota.
It's been known for a long time that the Colombian scene has nothing to
prove and is even one of the biggest and most active in the world,
Infra just confirms it once again!
