Fantasmage returns

Andrés (guitar) and Nico (drums and vocals) have reactivated Fantasmage, a 100% Vigo-born garage and pop cell. In 2012 they released, through Discos Humeantes, a self-titled debut album that immediately became a classic within the segment of the Spanish underground it belonged to. Forceful songs built on primitive rhythms, guitars as elegant and restrained as they are knife-sharp and furious, and a voice of dazzling naturalness that embraces some of rock’s most overworked themes and manages to revive them through sheer simplicity and authenticity. A spectacular anomaly, in short. God bless them.

From 2013 to 2024 Fantasmage lay dormant, and now they return with a lead single from what will be a new LP, to be released by Humo Internacional in September. The single, “Nada que hacer,” comes wrapped in artwork by American comics artist Tim Hensley and, much like its cover illustration, it’s a reflective and somewhat bitter song about roadside motels and supermarkets. Its mid-tempo but defiant propulsion—head held high despite the rough weather—and its knack for memorable pop melody connect it here with old comrades like Futuro Terror. As for the rest, the album, recorded at Estudio Terraforma by Ibán Pérez, promises to be another humble monument to rock in its most essential form: foundations exposed, echoing both the Stooges and the Wipers, from the most garage-leaning Brincos to the less leaden Black Sabbath, and so on through a long list of great architects of the electric song.

Texto por Juan F Navazas