Over the last few years, the question of punk’s contemporary credentials has become an oft-discussed issue. Indeed, some have argued that the art form went out of style back in the ’80s; that it has become nothing but a washed-out shadow of its past self, no longer containing either fire or fury.
But those already trying to close the coffin lid on punk would do well to check out Spain’s Bala. The vicious two-piece, an uncompromising act comprised of Anxela Baltar and Violeta Mosquera, are a counterpoint to all those ready to argue punk is in stasis. There’s nothing apologetic or half-measured about their music – given they have released songs with titles like ‘Human Flesh’, how could there be? Bala are far from being pumped-up poseurs – rather, they are one of the most thrilling rising acts on the worldwide punk scene.
“Our idea when we start composing records [is] simply to do something loud and powerful,” Baltar explains. “We have no greater pretensions – we only know we want to thunder. The rest we leave in the hands of the producer.”
The result is a record like Lume, an unforgiving assemblage of garage rock riffs and brutal, unsophisticated pleasures; all glazed with blood, gore and four-chord choruses. Indeed, although Bala’s sonic homages are evident – they have clearly spent equal time before the altars of both the Ramones and Black Sabbath – it’s also apparent from very first listen that they also draw a great deal of strength from horror cinema.
There’s something distinctly Mario Bava-esque about a song like ‘Colmillos’ – something that brings to mind black-gloved killers and Giallo blood splatters. “We both love cinema,” Baltar says. “Somehow I think horror movies can reflect our sound very well.”
That love of the ghoulish is also reflected in the band’s truly grotesque music videos. “Each of our videos has a special story. ‘Human Flesh’ was the first and we really enjoyed recording it. Then there is also ‘Freedom Is’, which is animated. We love it. We also have a video for ‘Joan Vollmer’, which is a reminder of our visit to UK. And the most recent, ‘Colmillos’, is the first single from Lume – and that makes it very important for us.”
Yet in many ways, it’s clear that no matter how much they might love their videos, Bala’s real driving force is playing live. Each of their anthemic choruses was clearly written to be screamed back by an adoring audience, and they take care to make their shows as powerful as possible.
“At the moment we only have two records and both last a few minutes, around 20, so it’s not too difficult to craft a setlist,” Baltar explains. “Now what we do is play Lume from start to finish and then play the four or five songs that we like the most from Human Flesh, our first album. We like our concerts to be short and intense. We try to start and end with a really powerful song, and in the middle we play a little bit of everything.”
At its heart, constructing a good setlist is just a way of respecting your audience – and giving back to the people who love them is Bala’s modus operandi. “We find it very important to have direct contact with the people who listen to us,” Baltar says happily. “After all, we owe them all.”
Bala join The Lockhearts, Bottlecap and La Mancha Negra at The Bald Faced Stag on Friday May 5. Lume is out now independently.
