From the punk wave that reached the Iberian peninsula in the beginning of t… Read Full Bio ↴From the punk wave that reached the Iberian peninsula in the beginning of the 80's, Espasmódicos were, without a doubt, one of the crucial names to understand the phenomenon in Spain. It is true that the influences of the genre's icons, especially the Pistols, are hard to conceal, but it's also hard to hide the fact that unlike most of their peers, this Madrid-based group knew how to give to their tunes a distinctive touch, based on a powerful, anphetamine charged sound and on a bomb-proof attitude that gave credibility to messages overdosed with fucked-upness.

Sadly, or maybe luckily, keeping in mind the (insignificant) evolution of the few punk bands that managed to survive beyond 1984, Espasmoódicos' career (Kike Cruel - vocals, Jose Siemens - guitar, Cesar - bajo, and Carlos Torero - drums) is limited to a couple of years and a meager discographic legacy.

The band started in late 1980 and started playing live in 1982, the year they also recorded the Recomendado para molestar a su vecino ("Recommended to Bother Your Neighbor") EP for the Spanish independant label Dro, which includes "Ni eficiencia ni progreso", "Están deseando que te pongas a temblar" and "Enciendes tu motor", a true classic for the Hispanic punk, marked by the prescence of a saxophone, a real "frivolité" for the close minded scene of the time and which actually shows the openess of the band.

In 1983 two tracks, "1943" and "Tía vete a cagar" (an explicit... love song?), were included in the almost legendary Spanish compilation "Punk Qué Punk?", and were precisely among the very few outstanding things in a historic record, mostly characterized by the scarce virtues of the bands featured. [OK, in my opinion, this is bullshit. Even if Espasmódicos Pistols cover (an improved rendition of "Belsen" with Spanish lyrics, retitled "1943") and their other track are great, most of the other bands are also good or at least decent. Overall, itÂ’s a pretty cool record... you can check my review of it here.]

That same year, an independant label from Madrid, Musikra, issued what became the labelÂ’s first release, an Espasmódicos 12", which included 5 tracks (Serafín, Soy Cruel, Días de destrucción, Mata and El día que falle Superman). It goes almost without saying that Espasmódicos original records, especeally the first one, are highly prized, collectors treasures. But still, the newcomers with a will of discovery can always turn to the digital format, as many of their songs are spread in various compilations and re-issues. When the band broke up, shortly after the 12" was released, some ex-members started the great hardcore-punk band TDK, which released a handful of excellent records.