Talk:Eskorbuto
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Eskorbuto were among the most popular of the "Radical Basque Rock" movement, despite the fact that they were constantly fighting against those who defended the term. The band was born at the beginning of the 80s in the slums of the Margen Izquierda ("Left River Bank", Bilbao), they managed to become local legends before they even recorded anything. Their nihilistic attitude, the members' strong personality (especially Iosu's) and their catchy tunes, helped them gain many followers both in the Basque Country (Euskadi) and in the rest of Spain. Their first LP Eskizofrenia ("Schizophrenia") was surrounded by a lot of controversy (including arrests, censorship...), which in a way helped the band in increasing their popularity. Musically, the record is their fastest and probably their "freshest" one. It cannot be considered , but this album stands out among its contemporaries (more influenced by Oi) because of the anger and aggression of the vocals. Their following work was a split LP with RIP (which I think is the first ever Spanish split LP), in which both bands sound pretty similar and share clear political lyrics, even though you can see a strong Discharge influence on RIP.
A year later they released their second LP, called Anti-Todo ("Anti-Everything"). The title was not meant to define the band's stance, but rather that of the whole society. Here the drumming is real (on Eskizofrenia they used a drum machine) and they worked much more on the songs; in fact, many regard this one as their best record. After releasing the Impuesto revolucionario live LP ("Revolutionary Tax"), and the Ya no kedan mas cojones Eskorbuto a las elecciones EP ("There are no more balls, Eskorbuto to the elections"), they released what was probably their most personal album, Los demenciales chicos acelerados ("Speedy Mad Guys"). The combined songs on the record supposedly tell a story, creating what they call a "rock-opera", but to be honest, I don't think that even the band really understood the story's plot very well. But what this record does have is songs full of pessimism and unmatched hatred. Here there are no political ideas to defend and no typical street posing, this record just tries to show the dark side of life. After reading their lyrics, it's not hard to understand why two of them found their death through heroin (the biggest enemy of punk), leaving behind the illusions and energy that should be part of every band.
After this record, Eskorbuto's musical career goes steadily downhill, they managed to released two more records with Iosu and Jualma but they were far from the sincere anger discharged in their previous works.
Their drummer, the original lineup's sole survivor, assembled other various musicians and kept releasing records under the name Skorbuto, but for most of us, Eskorbuto died with Jualma and and, more indeed, with Iosu.
[edit] Response
YOU SAID: "Los demenciales chicos acelerados ("Speedy Mad Guys"). The combined songs on the record supposedly tell a story, creating what they call a "rock-opera", but to be honest, I don't think that even the band really understood the story's plot very well."
RESPONSE: You can bet they knew very well. "Los demenciales" is a history about the rising of an inmoral and ambitious politician and dictator, some kind of a new Hitler (that was the reason for the swastikas and the picture with Goering and Himmler.
Iosu and Juanma made in 1987 an special Public Basque Radio program fleshing the bones of the history. That is the reason I know this.
YOU SAID: "After this record, Eskorbuto's musical career goes steadily downhill, they managed to released two more records with Iosu and Jualma but they were far from the sincere anger discharged in their previous works. "
RESPONSE: Well, IMO the two later LPs are EXCELLENT. Yes, they were farther and farther from direct-from-the-guts punk music (Only "Eskizofrenia" was cut on that mold), but they created they own brand of Punk Poetry. I think about them as Emile Cioran or Baudelaire making punk music.
[edit] Questions
If they were a Basque band, how could they be considered influential on "Hispanic" Punk? Even if they were influential on Spanish Punk, the term "Hispanic" refers to Mestizo Latin American culture usually. So a Spanish, let alone Basque, band should not be credited under that term.
ANSWER
Hi. "Hispanic" could be simply a misuse of the word (a "false friend"). If that is the case, please substitute mentally "Hispanic" with "Spaniard". But I must tell you that, despite being a spaniard, if I travel to the USA I am supposed to declare I am "Hispanic".
On the other hand, by pure mouth to ear, with ZERO investment in marketing, Eskorbuto got a tremendous success in pirated editions of their music in Mexico and other latin american countries. Maybe Eskorbuto is also influential in the "Hispanic" (Mestizo) cultural scene. I do not know, but I would not rule out that possibility.
The basque country is politically located in Spain and, a lesser part, France. Therefore, "A basque band" can also be a "spanish band", in the same sense that Bilbao is a basque city and a spanish city.
In the end, Iosu and Juanma were coherent nihilists, and they despised and deprecated BOTH countries, Spain and the Basque Country. Iosu also said that "Rock and Roll has no country".
