Los Bitchos @ Stereo, Glasgow, 18 Feb

Los Bitchos bring surf rock fun with punk energy – and plenty of bongo solos – to a sold-out Stereo in Glasgow

Live Review by James Hampson | 22 Feb 2022
  • Los Bitchos @ Stereo, Glasgow, 18 February 2022

Los Bitchos arrive on stage at a sold-out Stereo to a lilting bossa nova soundtrack, and get the party started almost immediately. There's a spiky, vivacious atmosphere in all of their music, with a dry, post-punk sense of fun. Pista (Fresh Start) sounds like the incidental music to some spectacular adventure, while The Link is About to Die rumbles on into a rhumba, its guitars scratchy and serene like the best of The Durutti Column. I Enjoy It shifts the scene again into punchy pop-punk, before the endless drawl of Tropico's lead riff rises steadily up like an arched eyebrow; you feel physically transported by this music.

The star of the show is Serra, on lead guitar, floating with insouciant verve and pausing periodically between guitar solos to give us bongo solos. Nic and Josefine’s rhythm section complements Serra perfectly – Josefine, on bass, sways endlessly like Tina Weymouth, while Nic slams away at the drums and screams in ecstasy at the scene before her. Los Bitchos all clearly love playing with each other and vibe off their own music, moving to each song with an unrehearsed spontaneity and joy.

Los Bitchos on stage; the members of the band play their instruments in a line across the front of the stage; a banner in the background reads 'Los Bitchos'

Surf rock comparisons are obvious, yet don’t fully cover the range of this set. At times they veer into math-rock as on Good to Go, a sprawling walkabout of a song, like the best lift music you’ve ever heard. At others they are redolent of the gamer music scene from 15 years ago whose members constantly covered old Nintendo themes, as on the twinkly, hi-hat-heavy Las Panteras.

The set ends with Agustina, formerly of the keytar and rhythm guitar corner, taking lead vocals for a rendition of Tequila. Yes, that tequila song. And then they whisk off with no encore, already manning the merch stall as the front row still demand one more tune.

The surf rock thing doesn’t convey the whole story, but what Los Bitchos do share with the genre is a commitment to having a cracking good time with absolutely zero pretence. It’s probably been too long since we had a band committed to nothing but that, and as we all crawl out and back into the clubs of this pestilential land, we could do a lot worse than going to see a band like Los Bitchos.


Photos by Serena Milesi