Rata Negra
Oido Absoluto

A selfie – a selfie, to be clear – captures a smiling Violeta, squeezed between Fa and Pablo in Piazza del Duomo in Milan, and no one around paying them the slightest attention, the most classic souvenir photo of the most classic group before heading home, and who knows if we will ever return to Italy is the thought that may buzz in the heads of those two boys and the girl between them, maybe it's a hope and that selfie is a bit like tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain; and then that selfie ends up on the Facebook page, like every respectable tourist posts their holiday photos on Facebook, even the slop served at the fast-food joint.

But if only all tourists wandering here were like Violeta, Fa, and Pablo, because it's true they don't bring dollars, yen, or even rubles to the cashboxes of trendy places, but just a few copies of a vinyl album called «Oido Absoluto» hoping to sell some to those who, in an act of faith, go see them in concert in some secluded space adapted as a social center; because that album is of the same kind that makes me crack a benevolent grin when I start discussing the state of the punk union, like those of Amyl and the Sniffers to be clear; and it's a great thing that two young girls are at the forefront writing two passionate stories in black and white, which maybe will last only a short time but for now, they do.

Violeta sings and plays the bass, Fa the guitar, and Pablo the drums, together they are Rata Negra, they come from Madrid and have a short history behind them, which is a lot of hard work knocking on the doors of Madrid venues to see if they can organize a concert; an EP in 2014, the debut album released in 2017 and the name starting to circulate even outside the vicinity; a few days ago the first concert in Italy and the contagious enthusiasm of the first time.

That's more than enough to be one of the nicest surprises in the punk scene of 2017; and for me, who in the '80s had a thing for the oi-ska-punk that resonated in Euskadi, the surprise effect is tenfolded by the pleasure of memory, even though in Madrid, Euskadi is el Pais Vasco and it's not the same thing.

Nothing to do, however, with the unforgettable Kortatu and little to share with La Banda Trapera del Rio, because Rata Negra sound like irreducible remnants of the early '80s Californian scene and pieces like «Aguas Negras», «Viviremos eternamente» and «Dientes Sobre el Metal» are excellent style exercises akin to X’s early albums, at least up to «Under the Big Black Sun» – and the female voice only strengthens the sensation, even if Violeta's timbre is not exactly that of Exene – but also the Adolescents, those of more slowed and together epic pieces like «Kids of the Black Hole» from the debut, evoked in the excellent «Ratas», «Escucha Como Suena» and «Por No Estar Sola».

So, if you have nothing better to do, give them a listen and support them, these youngsters deserve a chance, if only because it’s people like them who "save" rock’n’roll day after day.