The Parrots – Los Ninos Sin Miedo

A thrilling garage punk debut...

Summer might be drawing to a close, but The Parrots’ debut effort harks back to those halcyon days of sun, sand, and parties.

Roughly translating as ‘The Fearless Kids’, 'Los Ninos Sin Miedo' has all the youthful urgency you’d expect of an album recorded in a week by the sea. The self-described ‘loose-hipped, primordial rock ‘n’ roll’ band’s debut effort is a party of an album, a wild night out that never ends.

Hailing from Madrid, The Parrots are born from the same scene as Los Nastys and Hinds – singer Diego Garcia produced their debut LP Leave Me Alone – and you can hear it in their low-fi, unpolished sound, which only adds to their charm. None of the tracks stray past three minutes – some barely hit two.

The album’s psychedelic artwork hints at what’s to come, nodding to a plethora of influences from 60s garage bands to Buddy Holly.

Singing in a mix of English and Spanish, distorted vocals howl over dirty guitars in ‘Too High To Die’ – which starts as a gentle, acoustic sound which is quickly dropped in favour of reverb and howling – and ‘A Thousand Ways’, occasionally giving way to gentler, Dylan-esque numbers like ‘The Road That Brings You Home’.

Garage punk meets surf rock with ‘Jame Gumb’ – a track that wears its Cramps influence on its sleeve. Their influences are obvious in ‘E.A. Presley’, too, with a 1950s rock and roll vein running through it.

‘Windows 98’, which took just three hours to write and record, is a raw, Strokes-inspired, riff-laden brief burst of emotion and exuberance.

The Parrots may look to the past for their inspiration, but they’ve managed to put a unique twist to their sound by blending so many influences. With their frantic live performances and a solid set of tunes behind them, the sunbaked stoners are on to a winner with this ten-track wonder.

8/10

Words: Megan White

– – –

– – –

Buy Clash Magazine

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.