Latinameric Anfútbol
I normally don’t review music concurrently, nor do I frequently cover splits or compilations of multiple artists. However, I’ve been jamming Latinameric Anfútbol all morning, a compilation of nine(!!!!) of Latin America’s finest current Emo bands. Regional compilation albums aren’t exactly unheard of, especially in Punk-related subgenres, but this particular piece is special; all tracks featured on this album are original, made exclusively for this release and are of an extraordinarily high quality. So I mean, we’ve gotta talk about this, right?
This astonishing monument to contemporary Latino Emo features artists from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile, with a notable four coming from Colombia. I’ve covered Cataratas en Siberia on here just last year (and secretly am already covering a couple of artists on here, more on that later), but the depth of the Latin American scene is actually cracked. Most of these songs are deeply influenced by Math Rock, so, at their worst, they are never boring and offer something intriguing to the ear at every turn.
The ubiquitous eye of Math Rock stares down these songs, but the spectres of countless other sounds are spread across this gorgeous garden. From the Emo Revival invocations of
Cámara Chilena de la Destrucción and Honey Pot!, the edgy Post-Hardcore leanings of Kidchen and kurí, the innovative Screamo stylings of Cataratas en Siberia, Adentro No Debería Llover and Ortiga, the hyper-technical trappings of pleido, and even the wholly-unserious genre-bending nature of Matar a GraX, this hodgepodge of vaguely-similar genres comes together to reveal an amazing tapestry across thousands of miles of surface area.
Though this explosion of Latin American Emo might come as a surprise, there were always hints of cathartic greatness from this region; in the 2000s, acts like Leidan, Fresno, Dance of Days, Inválido, Polara, Turpentine, Asemblea Internacional del Fuego, among others, sowed the seeds of brilliant, diverse and experimental Emo across Mexico and South America. In the following decade, Latin American artists made more headway into the English-speaking Emo community with Fiesta Bizarra and Joliette, with other notable artists like No Somos Marineros, Puerto Austral, archipiélagos and Procrastinación 1 Yo 0 proving themselves as artistically excellent.
Arguably, Mexico’s own Damián Antón Ojeda is the catalyst for this recent movement, breaking into Emo at the tail end of the 2010s and becoming the most prolific artist to ever grace the genre (Life, Sadness, letterstoyou, etc.). However, this discredits the modern greats who got their start around the same time, such as La Hermanastra Más Fea, Estoy Bien, mis sueños son de tu adiós, WRRN, cursi no muere, sonhos tomam conta, mil ataris por segundo and the artists formerly known as basuraastillada.
All in all, this is perhaps the healthiest and most exciting time to be a fan of Emo in Mexico and South America. These nine artists showcase through this compilation that Latin America is poised to be the next big breakout scene, and judging by the songs on offer here, we’re in store for some truly groundbreaking stuff coming from the region soon.
