We’ve finally got it. “pasadas de moda” is the second album from the PUTOCHINOMARICÓN project called “Segundos Minutos Horas Días” – a project that questions the nature, esthetic and consumption of music in an era where everything is fleeting and consumed without reflection. It is a critique of current music consumption, which has moved toward ephemeral interaction on networks and away from genuin…
We’ve finally got it. “pasadas de moda” is the second album from the PUTOCHINOMARICÓN project called “Segundos Minutos Horas Días” – a project that questions the nature, esthetic and consumption of music in an era where everything is fleeting and consumed without reflection. It is a critique of current music consumption, which has moved toward ephemeral interaction on networks and away from genuinely enjoying physical format or streaming platforms. It is an imaginary album by the artist dadá, a product of nepotism, which serves as a vehicle to criticize the artist as a content creator, like a house pet that wants to please instead of challenge. At the same time, it’s an opportunity to review some of the musical movements from the beginning of the century, like blog house, indie sleaze and electroclash, although not as an exercise in nostalgia but instead as a way to update the sound, criticizing the elitism and exclusiveness. This provokes a surprising change in Chenta’s sound, making it more accessible, pure, more spacious, and letting the album show off their more pop spirit, throwing names in the mix like LE TIGRE, TINGS TINGS, FISCHERSPOONER, MISS KITTIN’, TIGA and many more.
The same song the gives the album its name begins by making it clear that no prisoners will be taken here: “Juguete roto de mierda / De ti ya nadie se acuerda / Te leñaron las pesetas / ¿Ahora qué más te queda?” (Shitty broken toy / Nobody remembers you anymore / They took you for all your worth / What’s left now?). Get ready to dance, because despite the songs barely surpassing 2 minutes (some don’t even reach the 2-minute mark), there isn’t a second to catch your breath. After hearing Chenta say “Joder, qué mal suena” (Shit, that sounds bad), “mamá, quiero ser viral”, kicks off, where our nepo baby is ridiculed and infantilized to the booming beat of the drum, electronic arrangements, and lines like “Qué rollo, qué rollo, ¿qué lloro y monto un pollo? / No quiero una vida de trabajo, casa y novio” (What a drag, what a drag, I’ll cry and make a scene / I don’t want a life of work, home and boyfriend) which refer to the famous Andy Warhol myth of the “fifteen minutes of fame” that here are reduced to 15 seconds on TikTok. We have already been able to enjoy the advance of “soy un idiota” to the beat of blog house where Chenta sneaks in that moment of sincerity between waves of cynicism when they say “Tengo miedo a ser feliz” (I’m afraid of being happy). “arthoe” was also one of the album’s advance singles, with its critique of the elitist, vacuous artist, and a marvelous tribute to CSS’ “Art Bitch”. “bla bla bla” returns to blog house and with it, the cutting of heads continues. In this case, we’re cutting the heads of charlatans who confuse wisdom with moral authority, memorization with empty messages. “tu padre es un facha y tu madre una terf” is Ramones’ style punk, crazy moshing, one minute and twenty nine seconds of headbanging, a wild anthem where Chenta is joined by Iñaki Mendoza on guitar and Fabiana Giménez Barraz on drums. At this point we are completely out of breath.
We continue with songs that sneak in lines like anthems. The portrait of that leader of formal, fascist, prejudiced correctness in “la rae (me la trae)”. It’s amazing. “Qué bien hablas español / Qué bien hablas español / No pronuncias bien la erre, pero hablas bien cabrón” (You speak Spanish so well / You speak Spanish so well / You can’t roll your rr’s right, but you speak well, you bastard). I don’t give a fuck dot com. The album closes on a high note with “pero”, a song that transcends everything we’ve been saying so far, to the beat of house and with notes of digicore, taking aim at and shooting down sexist, racist, chauvinistic ideas. The people make excuses for themselves, avoid their responsibilities with human rights, and give embarrassing proof of their ignorance and prejudices: “No soy racista / No soy machista / No soy clasista / Ni capacitista / No soy especista / No soy sexista / No soy edadista / ... Pero” (I’m not racist / I’m not chauvinistic / I’m not classist / I’m not ableist / I’m not speciesist / I’m not sexist / I’m not ageist / … But). This song includes the collaboration of LOBSTA B from 2020 and closes the album, which in Chenta’s own words “is aiming for more direct production work, in response to a society that constantly makes demands of artists, who now not only have to create, but also curate their work. This simplification aims to return to the essence of pop: music made for dancing, having fun and feeling absolutely carefree”. Is that why we love “pasadas de moda” so much? Are we trapped in that empty hedonism? Is this album a trick we can’t help fall for? Our heads are spinning. These are the side effects of such intense exposure to PUTCHINOMARICÓN’s universe, in which Ignacio Redard, Chenta’s inseparable companion on this journey, coproduces one of the songs on the album, “tu padre es un facha y tu madre una terf” and mixes and masters the whole album so exceptionally.
