More about: The Parrots

Some five years ago, The Parrots made themselves known to the world with their debut LP Los Niños Sin Miedo, a record of boisterous garage rock. Now, they’re back with their aptly titled follow-up Dos. Mixing the screech of an overdriven guitar with the piano-pop tones of Elton John, Dos shows The Parrots' growth and maturity as musicians.

Opening up the LP is the (lyrically) melancholic ‘You Work All Day Then You Die’. Hard-hitting drums and distorted guitar mix effortlessly within the chorus, as vocalist Diego Garcia wails the titular phrase, creating a sense of youthful and exiting paranoia.

These darker melodies are explored further within tracks like ‘How Not to Be Seen’, which comes out the gate like a bat out of hell with an unstoppable surge of punk-rock energy. The horn section within the track gives it a sense of malice, particularly within the closing stages as the tempo rapidly increases. The cacophonous noise sounds almost nightmarish as it accelerates past you in the track's last breaths.

This is not to state that the record is JUST doom and gloom rock. Tracks such as ‘Fuego’ are blissful slices of bubblegum indie, with light and breezy guitars that are just begging to be played on a blisteringly hot Madrid evening. ‘It’s Too Late to Go To Bed’ is a straight up funk triumph, with somewhat of a menacing edge: the guitar has a great flange effect to it, whilst the use of synth gives it a more modern and electronic edge, the result sounding like the love-child of Nile Rodgers and New Order.

Closing out the album is ‘Romance’, which features fellow Madrid-based outfit Los Nastys—it's perhaps the albums pop zenith. With a cool summer breeze and clean production, it sounds as if made to be blasted out at a festival main-stage. The riffs are effortlessly pulled off and clash with the distorted vocals, with the resultant product being a sure-fire indie anthem.

Dos takes all the positives from The Parrots' debut LP and amplifies them. Cool and clean in places, dirty and grungy in others, it offers a wide range of soundscapes with each one clearly being obsessed over and cared for. Dos takes you on a winding sonic passage through a plethora of different genres. Buckle up!

Dos arrives 29 October via Heavenly Recordings.

More about: The Parrots