Buenos Muchachos

Their leap into the public eye came in February 1992, when they played a birthday party in Solymar and later at Juntacadáveres, a venue that smelled of cheap beer and half-finished dreams. By 1994, they were already in the studio recording what would become Nunca fui yo, an album released in 1996 on cassette that sold out so fast it’s now almost a cult object. There was no luxury production or sophisticated arrangements: just four guys playing as if the world were ending tomorrow. Next came Aire rico in 1999, recorded amid internal tensions that forced them to stop between 1994 and 1996, and Dendritas contra el bicho feo in 2000, an album that confirmed they could survive their own fights.

But it was in 2004 when they made a turn with Amanecer búho, released by Bizarro Records and produced by themselves alongside Gastón Akerman. José Nozar —ex Elixir— joined on drums and Alejandro Itté on bass, and suddenly the sound became sharper, though without losing the roughness that defines them. The album premiered at El Galpón theater with sold-out tickets, and the video for "He Never Wants to See You (Once Again)" —directed by Diego Fernández— gave them a boost beyond Uruguay. By then, they had already left their mark in films like 25 watts and La perrera, and their songs were playing in bars, beaches, and festivals, from Amarillo in Montevideo to Cemento in Buenos Aires.

In 2006, they released Uno con uno y así sucesivamente, an album that led them to sell out Teatro Metro in 2007 and grow their audience so much that, between 2007 and 2008, they could barely keep up. But the wear and tear caught up with them: in 2009, they took a sabbatical year and returned with shows at La Trastienda, though the band already carried that "love and hate" dynamic that often ends in long pauses. The high point of that era was opening for the Pixies at Teatro de Verano in 2010, a concert that marked a before and after because, after all, they had grown up listening to that band. In 2011, they added Francisco "Pancho" Coelho on third guitar and Ignacio "Nacho" Gutiérrez on keyboards, and closed the year with Se pule la colmena and a show called "Puro Humo" at the same Teatro de Verano. They weren’t a band chasing fame, but the journey led them to play on stages they once dreamed of.