The genre had never before been making such noise at home, never mind across the world – and especially not with an all-female band spearheading it. Put simply, Spanish women wanting to start a band didn’t have many role models to look to.Īpart from Cosials and co., Spain’s new indie movement seemed like a boys-only club.

All-female bands are even less common, the most notable being elusive 90s indie pop quintet Nosoträsh (a self-deprecating pun on the Spanish feminine word for ‘us’). That’s not to say that successful Spanish indie groups were unheard of before this Los Planetas are shoegaze favourites and female-fronted acts such as Los Punsetes are adored by Spanish-speaking audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

More recently, Carolina Durante’s cerebral garage sounds and high-profile collaborations boosted the mainstream appeal of the genre more than ever. Across the country, the ironically-named Mujeres (meaning ‘women’) served up fuzzy surf rock with a vintage flavour Baywaves drenched audiences in their summery riffs and Futuro Terror’s urgent, unrelenting punk gained them a loyal fanbase. Fellow garage rockers The Parrots and Los Nastys led the scene alongside Hinds, filling the capital’s hipster venues with their DIY brand of guitar music. For a country raised on the tontipop of Las Ketchup, Eurodisco acts like Baccara and hallmarks of tradition like Julio Iglesias, a new generation of bands were emerging who had always had to look abroad for the ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll sounds that their own country wasn’t making.Īs the now well-documented Madrid scene came to light, it became clear that not since the countercultural Movida Madrileña movement in the 70s and 80s following Franco’s dictatorship had the city’s scene been so vibrant. Formed in 2011 by Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, the frontwomen joined forces with bassist Ade Martín and drummer Amber Grimbergen to become Spain’s most internationally successful indie export, sparking an interest in the Spanish capital’s thriving underground scene.

Spanish garage rock is almost entirely synonymous with Hinds, the rambunctious, all-female band who took Madrid’s sounds to international ears in 2016 with their jangly debut Leave Me Alone.

“Women are at the forefront because naturally we had to be” Lisasinson

Pop punk bands with female singer