Née: Paz Court, Ricardo Tunacola Luna, DJ Caso
Raíces: Santiago de Chile, Chile
Sounds like: Justice, MGMT, Crystal Castles
You should listen to Tunacola because…you don’t wanna wait until they blow up and miss the chance of telling your friends that you knew about them first.
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Back in the ’80s Los Prisioneros called themselves the Sudamerican Rockers. Now it’s time for another Chilean trio to claim the title.
Tunacola sounds nothing like the naive approach to early rock en español of the group that became “The voice of the ’80s” in the southernmost part of the continent. But the irreverence, the attitude, and the pop sensibility are all the same.
Tunacola is the bilingual, Chilean response to the hipster-cool electro-pop of the likes of Justice and Crystal Castles, but it comes from an unexpected foundation. The singer, Paz Court, made her name in Santiago’s scene with her other project Jazzimodo, playing (obviously) jazz. DJ Caso, on the other hand, had a long tenure as a respected turntablist in the hip-hop underground. He was, in fact, DJ for the last incarnation of Ana Tijoux’s former band Makiza, and he continues to spin the wheels for Anita’s ex-microphone partner Seo2. Around here, some may know him for his collaboration on last year’s Latin Bitman album Colour (out on Nacional Records). But none of the music so far released by Tunacola resemble directly his hip-hop indoctrination, this is just pure good pop with tight dance electro beats and catchy choruses, with a huge potential for international crossover. So be on the lookout, these might actually be the next “Sudamerican Rockers.”
DOWNLOAD “SUDAMERICAN ROCKERS” HERE.
DOWNLOAD “PRIMAVERA NOW” HERE.
Watch Tunacola’s dizzy-ass video for “Showbisnes” below.