by Nadia Sapollnik

Translation by Kevin Vaughn

“What´s going on tonight?” was the message in my inbox last Friday night. It’s been a while since I´ve wanted to get to know Le Bar, a friend of a friend had recommended it to me. He always goes to crash concerts on the weeknights that he´s got Fernet goggles on. When we arrived we ambushed the only table that was waiting for us.    

Tonight was the Friday night party Pompeya es Bailable, a big dance party hosted by resident djs Villa Diamante and Zurita, two personalities I´d met in the Soundcloud world (Nope, no psychotropic mushrooms necessary; if you´re not already aware log-in to the website and listen to music uploaded by the artists themselves). In order to paint you a picture of what we walked into imagine a large bowl and whisk together ripe cumbia with dancehall and mashup to taste. Later in the night we were greeted by the night’s guest band: Lo Pibitos.

The music grew louder and louder throughout the night until there was no doubt in my mind that Lo Pibitos were ready to take the stage. On this occasion just two of the five members of Lo Pibitos were present, El Dogg was in charge of mixing with Andres Abre, microphone in hand, he never stopped playing around with a selection of ski masks. The other three members are Tomi Tomaso (synthesizer) and the brothers Andres: Jean Luka (accordion, percussion) and Rody Infinito (guitars).

The guys have this style that I like to define as “Palermitoso”. How does one define “Palermitoso”? A little bit of vintage, a good pair of Ray Bans, and a lot of SoHo. But this new generation of argentine cool kids didn´t arrive alone. While the boys went through their repertoire, amongst them the popular Reconquista, Just Chilling and Jarabe, more than thirty groupies sung along and dominated the improvised dance floor.

Their lyrics are completely original fusions of música Latina, hip-hop “made in Villa Crespo”, mixtures of Calle 13 and early work from Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas (Dante Spinetta and Emmanuel Horvilleur´s the funk and soul band back when they were still kids. I know that sounds strange, but try it out for yourself, anyone that listens to Lo Pibitos play Jarabe and doesn´t hear Colombian cumbia accompanied by an electric guitar needs to have their ears examined.

But more than being slightly deaf, you´d have to be blind not to notice this tidal wave of bands like Lo Pibitos that are composing the next generation of Argentine music, not manufactured from above, but rather home made, right where it should be.

If you missed Lo Pibitos last Friday they are playing again, Friday June 10th at Fiesta Santera in Club Niceto. Also check out this months Pompeya lineup: Zonora Point (June 10th), Rolando Bruno (June 17th) and Catnapp (June 24th).