aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
#7: Christina by Los Blancos
If you Google “los blancos” you’ll get quite a few results that don’t mention any bands from Wales. Not surprising really seeing as it’s not a very Welsh-sounding name. Yet very Welsh they are – formed, and still based, over to the west in the ancient town of Carmarthen (reputed to be the oldest town in Wales, in fact – you can’t get much more Welsh than that).
Once described by their record label as “beat up converse, rusty strings, cheap beer and heartfelt lyrics written on the back of half empty cigarette packets”, they live in a world soundtracked by American alternative and slacker rock – they cite Pavement, Pixies, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Ty Segall among their numerous influences. And that sort of sums them up really, other than the fact they perform in the Welsh language which none of those other acts do. They also provided the theme song to S4C’s coverage of the Wales football team’s (ultimately brief) World Cup campaign in 2022.
Christina is a single taken from their second album ‘Llond Llaw’ (trans. Handful) released in 2023. It’s a short- sharp blast of what they do best
mp3: Christina – Los Blancos (from ‘Llond Llaw, 2023)
The video was recorded for the Welsh language TV show Lwp which reflects the nation’s music and cultural scene. It’s another song from the latest album.
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