Née: Ana Sultana, Sandra Sultana, Irene Sultana, Berta Sultana, and Julia Sultana
Raíces: Alicante, Spain
Sounds like: Mediterranean garage rock played by royal odalisques on acid
You should listen to Las Sultanas because…they’ll make you dance and because you know you want to. Come on. You know you do…
Las Sultanas are definitely not your typical melodic rock band. Sure they rock bright, almost clean, guitars with a slight distortion. They splash out tantalizing lyrics and their rhythm makes the perfect soundtrack for an afternoon at the beach. But there’s also a darkish element to their music: their six-song demo titled Haren sounds particularly raw, as if by choice. The vocal harmonies for some of their songs are ghostly; smooth and haunting. They have a song dedicated to Jezebel, probably referring to the evil Hebrew princess as opposed to the online feminist source. Or perhaps some woman named Jezebel, I don’t know. The point is: their sound is raw, it’s powerful, and it belongs in the shoreline that divides garage from punk. You know you want to go there.
According to our sources, these five girls are no strangers to the Alicante scene. They started performing together last year but, as a matter of fact, Ana and Irene were co-founders of the all-girl punk band Ultrazorras, which they left to start this new project. But whereas the sound of Ultrazorras is more aggressive and punk, Las Sultanas are completely melodic. They also have a couple of melancholic tunes that carry the spirit of traditional Moorish ballads, without losing that fresh-out-of-the-garage sound. Yes: you have to give Las Sultanas a chance. Check out their demo, Haren, and hear for yourself.