Heroína

Heroína by **Sumo** is one of those songs that get stuck in your memory for how it sounds before you understand what it's saying. The track doesn't follow the conventional rhythm of bands from its era: the bass and drums lay down a hypnotic groove that stretches longer than usual, while the guitar and **Luca Prodan**'s voice get tangled in a dialogue that seems improvised but is meticulously calculated. There's something in that disconnect between the rhythmic foundation and the melodic arrangements that gives it an air that is both raw and sophisticated, as if the song breathes in a time signature that doesn't quite fit but works.

The album Llegando los monos, where Heroína appears, was recorded in 1986 with borrowed equipment and without grand pretensions of polishing every detail. The result was a more organic sound than that of other Argentine bands of the time, where errors and imperfections ended up being part of their identity. **Prodan** and the rest of the group worked without a producer in charge, although **Walter Fresco** is credited as artistic director. The track itself lasts 5:43, enough time for the song to develop unhurriedly, as if each note had space to breathe. It's not a commercial hit like Los viejos vinagres — which **Prodan** himself admitted composing with that aim — but in Heroína there's something more: an honesty not often found in Argentine rock songs of those years.