Los Bitchos

With members hailing from Britain, Uruguay, Australia, and Sweden, the trippy, surf-injected rock instrumentals of Los Bitchos draw on influences as cosmopolitan as their membership. Blending elements of Argentinian cumbia, Peruvian chicha, and Turkish Anatolian rock, among other influences, into their distinctly lighthearted, psychedelic sound, Los Bitchos christened their 2022 debut album Let the Festivities Begin! Sounding like a band that had been playing together a while longer, they followed it with Talkie Talkie in 2024. Australia native Serra Petale (guitar), Uruguay's Agustina Ruiz (keytar), Sweden's Josefine Jonsson (bass), and South Londoner Nic Crawshaw (drums) met at various house parties in London or through mutual friends. With Crawshaw having played in local punk bands, they bonded over the prospect of transcending genre with their collective influences. The foursome began playing shows together in Europe in the late 2010s, and finished recording their first album right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With touring and the album's release on hold, the band launched the Internet radio show Planet Bitchos to explore international music styles. A video of the band's performance at the 2019 Trans Musicales festival in Rennes, France, soon collected hundreds of thousands of views, and in mid-2021, Los Bitchos appeared on the B-side of Altın Gün's single "Kisasa Kisas" b/w "Erkilet Güzeli." By the end of the year, they had signed with City Slang. Their Alex Kapranos-produced debut album Let the Festivities Begin! followed in February 2022. For their second LP, the quartet -- now sounding a bit tighter -- teamed up with Oli Barton-Wood (Wet Leg, Nilüfer Yanya) to co-produce. Released on City Slang in August 2024, the resulting Talkie Talkie was at least as party hearty as their debut.
© Marcy Donelson /TiVo