Ultrasonica＜Transparent Orange Vinyl＞

Anyone who listens to Ultrasonica without being a proper los Piratas worshipper would probably think this is a greatest-hits compilation encompassing the 12 years that the Galician band held together. Nevertheless, Ultrasonica is the sixth album in the ascending career of a band with a little-known style within Spanish music thus far, closer to international groups like Radiohead, and far from the insolent attitude of the '80s Spanish rock bands like Loquillo, Alaska or Radio Futura, among others. On Ultrasonica, los Piratas cut loose from their ties and give free rein to all the influences shown, just in part, on previous albums, and masterly combine them creating 13 excellent songs that travel across all the possible styles within rock/pop. The level of musical experimentation los Piratas reach is apparent from the very first cut, "Teching," and its fast breakbeat typical of ILS or the Prodigy themselves, disturbed by a volcanic bass and followed by a brutal guitar exploitation and electronic sounds, which are then completed by a distorted voice where deep and distressed words round out a quality not achieved in prior works and which are present all over this album. With such a start, we can only expect the album to go downhill, but Ivan Ferreiro and his pirates manage to make this a showcase album. Ballads like "El Equilibrio Es Imposible" and "Cuando Te Duermas" reveal the most bitter side of sweetness, allowing Ferreiro's voice to tear the veil from any sense of a utopian happiness. With "Anos 80" comes one of the biggest commercial success in the band's history, a '60s-styled song full of irony converted into modern rock/pop. "Disimular" exemplifies the most rock face of the group and "Filofobia," another of the band's hits, blends melancholy and eternal despair, while the melody is escorted by dirty guitars. The rest of the record is nothing more (and nothing less) than just the sample space that allows listeners to choose between -- depending on the moment and the urgency -- the different and extraordinary elements that comprise it. For all of the above and more, Ultrasonica fulfills the dream of many Spaniards to be proud of a band that carried on their shoulders the responsibility of proving there is more to export than just flamenco. ~ Alfonso Goiriz