Ciro y Los Persas

What stands out the most in Ciro y Los Persas is that sound that blends rock with deep Argentine roots, without staying in the obvious. Andrés Ciro Martínez, who had previously led Los Piojos, created something different: guitars with weight but with a ballad-like air, rhythms that dance between candombe and tango, and lyrics that go straight to the bone. It's not rock for empty stadiums or empty anthems; here, the groove is felt in the Armónica, in the Cencerros, and in those Bonus Track that seem taken from a campfire. Their first album, Espejos, already made it clear they weren't there to copy anyone: from the first track, Antes y después, it speaks of belonging and looking back without losing direction, while Servidor presents freedom as something that is built, not begged for. Even a nod to El Fantasma de Canterville by Charly García sneaks into Chucu-chu, as if the past and present shook hands in the same song.

The leap to the big stage came quickly. In 2010, with Espejos freshly released, they were already playing at the Orfeo Superdomo in Córdoba, at the Ángel Bustelo in Mendoza, and even at the Luna Park in Buenos Aires, but what truly marked them was when Paul McCartney chose them as the opening act for his show at the Estadio Monumental. It wasn't just any gesture: a former Beatle asking an Argentine band to open his concert in Argentina. That year, they closed with three sold-out shows at the Luna Park, and the album ended up going double platinum. They weren't looking to be the sensation of the moment; they wanted to sound like something that didn't yet exist, and they achieved it without even trying.