Contradecir

Contradicting sounds like a challenge thrown into the air. The song by La Vela Puerca starts with a rhythm that moves between rock and ska, but what makes it stand out is that air of rebellion that won’t stay still. The trumpets and trombones don’t just accompany: they push, as if the band were arguing with the listener without needing words. The track lasts 4 minutes and 9 seconds, just long enough for the message—or the question—not to fade along the way.

The album where it was born, Deskarado, came from a risky bet. La Vela Puerca, led by Sebastián Teysera ("el Enano"), had secretly won a contest in 1996 that opened the doors to Obligado Records. There, producer Claudio Taddei shaped their sound, but the real leap came when Gustavo Santaolalla remixed the album and re-released it in 1999 under Surco/Universal. By then, they had already played at Montevideo’s Teatro de Verano, opened for Los Piojos, and earned a gold record. Their 2000 tour through Argentina, dubbed "Girafónica" due to the singers’ voice issues, took them across the river with even more force. In 2001, with Santaolalla as artistic producer, they recorded De bichos y flores between Buenos Aires and Los Angeles, to release it in Montevideo in October. By 2004, they were still on the road, recording new material between March and April.