Híbrido Premiere “Lale” From Grados. Minutos. Segundos.
In June, the final installment of Spinda Records‘ crazy ambitious year-long time-capsule of the Spanish heavy underground, Grados. Minutos. Segundos., will be shipped and the box set in its 12 x 7″ entirety will be released. In 2019, Algeciras-based four-piece Híbrido issued their self-titled debut (review here), and the new single “Lale” unites them with Kabbalah (whose “Dead Eyes” premiered here) on split number 11 of the total 12, so it’s not quite all the way at the end, but pretty close to it.
As this is probably the final of the several track premieres I’ve been lucky enough to host for the Grados. Minutos. Segundos. project, I’ll note one more time how remarkably admirable I find it. It is a madman’s monument to a scene as a muse — the madman in question being Berto Caceres Caracuel, the head of Spinda Records — and a gorgeous work of art to behold, and that’s before you get to any of the music. As a snapshot of Spain’s underground, it is indispensable at this moment, and as the series
winds down and this sure-feels-like-a-once-in-a-lifetime event cruises toward its conclusion, I can think of few bands better than Híbrido to feature here.
Why? Well, the band are something of a regional superpower, with bassist Jose “Pot” Moreno and guitarist Jose Angel “Oceano” Galindo having laid the foundation for an not-insubstantial amount of present-day Spanish heavy in Viaje a 800 before Moreno went on to found Atavismo with Mind! drummer Sandri Pow, who rounds out the lineup here with Los Bradlys guitarist Zoa Rubio. True to their moniker, as Híbrido they represent a sonic conglomeration drawing from multiple sides of their collective experience in heavy rock, psychedelia and prog, the two guitars allowing for a lush and warm tonality to go along with their solid rhythmic underpinnings.
On “Lale,” the vibe is serene and dug in. That warmth is there, and though instrumental, the track is memorable enough to make an impression in a way that’s not so much otherworldly as what you wish this world was like on any given day. Aspirational, maybe, as regards humanity, or that could be reading too much into it. Either way, at just under six minutes, it’s pushing the limits of the format and your consciousness at the same time and there’s little more appropriate than that to showcase Híbrido and the folk and rock aesthetic traditions they’re helping uphold and redefine.
Enjoy “Lale” here, followed by more from the PR wire:
This track is part of a 7″ split vinyl record shared with Spanish occult rock band Kabbalah, both featured in compilation boxset ‘Grados. Minutos. Segundos.’
‘Grados. Minutos. Segundos.’ is a no-return trip around the four cardinal points of the deepest underground music scenes in Spain. Thanks to a boxset full of previously unreleased tracks of 24 indie Spanish bands you’ll have the chance to understand how’s the sound of this new generation of independent musicians. You don’t want to be told about it, you want to be part of it.
‘Grados. Minutos. Segundos.’ will be made of 12x 7″ vinyl records (to be released in 4 batches from June 2021 to May 2022), being each of them shared by 2 bands with apparently no connection at all.
TRACK-LIST
Split #1: MOURA – “Muiñeira da Maruxaina” // ROSY FINCH – “Black Lodge”
Split #2: ADRIFT – “Abracadabra” + “Lush Lands” // MONDO INFIEL – “Estigmas”
Split #3: PARTÍCULA – “La Fosa” // MEDICINA – “Vilo”
Split #4: HABITAR LA MAR – “Enrea” + “Ruina” // ACID MESS – “Algo grita”
Split #5: CRÓ! – “Buah” // THE DRY MOUTHS – “More Oo No Fluid”
Split #6: SATURNA – “Volver a empezar” // LAVERGE – “Y.D.H.A.S.”
Split #7: ATAVISMO – “Psicopatías del 2021” // MÍA TURBIA – “Centro de gravedad”
Split #8: SANTO ROSTRO – “Annual” // CEMËNTERI – “El verano más corto” + “El ritmo frenético”
Split #9: THE SOULBREAKER COMPANY – “Kill the Devil (with his dick)” // DOMO – “Aldorassa”
Split #10: BATTOSAI – “Auténtico” + “Entiéndeme” // PYRAMIDAL – “Cosmic Sound”
Split #11: HÍBRIDO – “Lale” // KABBALAH – “Dead Eyes”
Split #12: ARENNA – “Οιδίπους 70º30´S (cuidaos del enigma)” // HERE THE CAPTAIN SPEAKING, THE CAPTAIN IS DEAD – “Asymmetric Sequence”
