New Adventures In Pop: New release LOS BONSÁIS, CAPITÁN SUNRISE and KOKOSHCA 2012

Here at Elefant Records we continue to support new groups, and we continue to feed our New Adventures in Pop Collection with new singles. Bands that aren’t so unknown anymore, like PAPA TOPO, BAND À PART, GUATATAFÁN and ED WOOD LOVERS have been released in the collection, as well as some glittering foreign promises, like PUSHY PARENTS, THE SILVER FACTORY and NATURE SET. New Adventures in Pop is proof of our dedication and identity, full of surprises for all the avid listeners of new and refreshing sounds, and these three new names are three new national promises, for whom we definitely hope we’re helping a bright future develop: the indie-pop with a punk-noise edge of LOS BONSAIS, the warm, pristine, promising pop of CAPITAN SUNRISE and the unusual garage pop of KOKOSHCA. They are three new groups who each fill their 7” color-vinyl, limited edition singles (identifying characteristics of all of the singles in this collection) with proof of the effervescent, interesting and noticeably diverse sounds around in today’s national pop scene. Let’s celebrate with their fantastic songs.

Limited Edition 500 copies
Includes a free digital MP3 download [320 kbps]
 

Available on our online store

LOS BONSÁIS “Ultramarinos”
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With just two demos, “La Mecedora” and “Ultramar”, this Asturian duo formed by Nel and Helena deeply impressed us. Their punk-pop sound is so spontaneous, so immediate and urgent that we needed their first official release to be part of the collection of new promises that our New Adventures in Pop is. The electricity of MY BLOODY VALENTINE, RIDE and THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN, the primitivism of BEAT HAPPENING, the instant shake-you-up of SHOP ASSISTANTS, THE VASELINES and THE PASTELS, reaching a perfect symphony between noise and melody. “Ultramarinos” seems to be directly extracted from “Psychocandy”, where their dreamy lyrics and layers of sound clash brilliantly with the brazen chorus and the guitar solo that is in and of itself an ode to indie-pop. “Ultramar, no te olvides protección solar” (Ultramar, don’t forget your sunscreen). Simply fantastic. “Temporal” is a song with echoes of MARINE GIRLS mixed with distortions, fuzzes and boosters. “Es Mejor” is another brazen A-side, with disconcerting lyrics because of the cultural analysis and irony it’s seeped with, but that returns to a base that is almost martial, influenced by their love of Krautrock, with serves as a support for the layers of feedback and melodies that stick together like gum to the sole of your shoe. “Nueva Ola” closes the marine theme with a freshness that we haven’t heard since TALULAH GOSH and THE SEA URCHINS, with those faded guitars over the insistent drums, and a melody that simultaneously affects your mood and your feet.

Four songs recorded in the Kaiju studios in Vigo, owned by Eva and Iván of LINDA GUILALA, undoubtedly the ideal duo to make the final touches on LOS BONSAIS’ songs, since nobody can understand better than they can the immediacy of their electric and addictive sound, and all of this wrapped up with the mastering of Bill Racine in Los Angeles.

All of this in the most brilliant and concise way possible. None of the songs on the album reach the 3 minute mark. And they don’t have to. Indie-pop in its purest essence. There is no need for additives, or preservatives, or artificial coloring. Simply attitude, good melodies, simple, straight-forward lyrics (that show the world around us for what it is: The sea, the earth, the summer, the rain, travelling…) and all the excitement in the world to show it. This is the perfect presentation for LOS BONSAIS.

Video-clip of " Ultramarinos" on sale on iTunes

Limited Edition 500 copies [Blue Colour Vinyl]
Available on our online store

CAPITÁN SUNRISE “El Chico Más Guapo De La Galaxia”

CAPITÁN SUNRISE takes its first steps in 2009 but its line-up isn’t formalized until 2010, with Santi, Miguel,Noelia,Alberto (also in UTLRANOL), Coral,Javi (both in BAND À PART)andGuille. They were quickly able to make a small entourage of fans for themselves, coming in third in the Festival Contempopránea contest“Grupo Revelación Nacional 2010” (Best New NationalGroup 2010). Like the imagined superhero their name evokes, the songs of this now-Madrid-based band, with some changes in the line-up, are an antidote to pessimism, a push into the warm lights of great melodies and unforgettable voices. This is why we can’t let this opportunity to introduce them through the latest edition of New Adventures in Pop pass.

“El Chico Más Guapo De La Galaxia” is, starting now, an object of affection forfans of the most melodic and elegant pop, that gives off airs of COLA JET SET, AVENTURAS DE KIRLIAN, BELLE & SEBASTIAN, LA BUENA VIDA, NIZA and CLUB 8. The single’s title track is a shot of light and vitality, with touches of surf and openly sixties airs, that remind us vaguely of the rich harmonies of THE HOLLIES, the effectiveness and the melodic sense of JAN & DEAN, the freshness of BMX BANDITS.  “La Montaña Rusa”, the first song by CAPITÁN SUNRISE to play on the radio and the first song they recorded as a group, is an homage to pop music, full of echoes of the sixties and indie-pop guitars with references to books and albums and a melancholic air full of sweetness. “La Merienda” was the theme-song for Agustín Fuentes’ radio program (the director of the Festival Contempopránea), with its choruses somewhere between doo-wop and ye-ye, as if Augusto Algueró had left the soundtrack for the remake of “Grease” for posterity. It has an unforgettable chorus, hummable like nothing else, appealing to its core. Finally, “El Otoño”,a song that talks about a person who needs to leave to travel the world to try to get his life back on track, gets back to that sweet sadness that bands like NOSOTRÄSH and SERPENTINA have used with such mastery. It has the melodic elegance of Dusty Springfield and the arrangements of SHE & HIM, while playing with the vocals like a candid BEACH BOYS. It closes a delicious, perfect single that doesn’t have one single second of excess on it, not one excess arrangement, not even an extra lalala.

They are undoubtedly called upon to become one of the key names in the Spanish pop scene in 2012. We are already so excited for a new dose of this light therapy calledCAPITÁN SUNRISE.

Video-clip of "El Chico Más Guapo De La Galaxia" on sale on iTunes

Limited Edition 500 copies [Red Colour Vinyl]
Available on our online store

KOKOSHCA "La Fuerza"

Few contemporary national bands have as much strength as KOKOSHCA, the trio from Pamplona.

Iñaki’s voice, which is well accompanied by Amaia and Javi, transmits an intensity and spins vocal pirouettes that are difficult to compare to anything else coming from our geographical coordinates. The husky tone of GALLON DRUNK, the piercing pop spirit of LOS BRAVOS, the unclassifiable accent of PATRULLERO MANCUSO and the naturalness of the TV PERSONALITIES, echoes of wild garage, and the title of their single for New Adventures in Pop (after two limited-edition studio albums on CDR for the wonderful label Birra y Perdiz, a compilation of rare songs released on cassette by Nosotros Los Rusos and a digital-release live album) which already says everything.

“La Fuerza” is truly marvelous. The compulsive and unrelenting passion that runs through the song’s four minutes, the amazing interpretation by Iñaki, trap the listenerand hold them captive with those dark, unknown impulses the song talks precisely about. It is, quite simply, a masterpiece. “Nena” is an effective garage-pop song, with loose, furious riffs that is set up like a little tour de force, a crescendo of festive airs and brazen moments, that narrates the life of a girl who so admires the people around her that she hasn’t had any time to admire herself, with that ending as elusive as it is unsettling. “Mi Chica Preferida” plays with those surf parameters in a similar way to what THE RAVEONETTES do, but with that almost hypnotic chorusthat repeats until you’ve had your fill: “Alísate el pelo, alísatelo ya”(Straighten your hair, straighten it now). Humor and treachery. Finally, on “El Bosque” they maintain the dosage of mystery, this time with keyboards in the mix as well as Amaia’s voice, as if it were a soundtrack of a horror film, the search for shelter, where there are homages to SUICIDE, and to the shouts of Alan Vega in “Frankie Teardrop”.  “No sentirme sola al despertar en él” (To not feel lonely upon waking up in it). Martial minimalism, baroque ambience and spacial kraut-ness, for a band with a rock spirit and undying energy, full of chiaroscuros that make an exercise of getting an unpredictable and undescribable experience inside their music. We hope this single helps turn so many of you into KOKOSHCA FANS. We already have.

Video-clip of "La Fuerza" on sale on iTunes

Limited Edition 500 copies [Transparent Vinyl]
Available on our online store

LOS BONSÁIS “Ultramarinos”

CAPITÁN SUNRISE “El Chico Más Guapo De La Galaxia”

KOKOSHCA “La Fuerza”