The Brillantina's

Band from Pamplona, Spain.
Band members: Roberto C. Meyer, J'Aime Cristóbal, Jon Ulecia, Javier Moya
Past members: Daniel Ulecia, Carlos del Valle,
Brother band: The Glitter Souls, Beautiful Losers.
When The Brillantinas (a band from Pamplona, the city whose San Fermines attracted Ernest Hemingway so much) released their debut cd "Twilight dingos" in 1997 in a very small label, today dissapeared, nobody nowhere seemed to notice it. Even though, and besides its production and sound problems, that record is today a small classic in the world of spanish instrumental rock. We expect that now, after this second CD, it may be re-appreciated and, why not, maybe reissued. During that days, Jaime Cristóbal (today front man and composer for pop group Souvenir) and Roberto C. Meyer (former glam-rock band Glittersouls member) leaded the band. Todays Brillantinas, with a renewed line-up, execute the personal musical universe of Roberto C. Meyer, full-filled with almost any musical genre developed during the sixties golden era. The one and only thing you can say about this "Pulp-a-mandrilla" CD without fearing a mistake is that it is purely instrumental. The instro spirit defines perfectly Robertos tastes, something rare when you notice his particular way of associating words to the sounds, as seen in the songs titles. From that definition on, lots of things can be found inside: some instro-surf, some frat-rock, a bit of biker-fuzz-rock, an obvious rendition to the great classic composers of cinema scores and, the best of it, a shocking and solid rock spirit and attittude. Rock instrumentals, not as the electronic ones, are not a well developed or trendie style in Spain. But we do have great bands. Probably because their members use to be musicians with a great knowledge and culture about popular music. Thats the Brillantinas, one of this solid bands that may found a consolidation with this second cd. A record that can even be considered the first of a second coming. Their wide musical influences are easily appreciated in the covers: "Nous ne sommes pas des anges" (We are not angels) from sixties French pop-master Serge Gainsbourg and "Nessuno me puó giudicare" (No-one can judge me), an italian classic that Caterina Casselli and Gene Pitney sung in San Remos Festival back in 1966. They did not win, needless to say... Also "Klezmer queen of swamp" shows the savoir faire of the band. A klezmer is an hebraic ritual dance. A klezmer was also the original melody Dick Dale arranged, turned into "Misirlou" and so many people got to enjoy as the opener for Quentin Tarantinos "Pulp fiction" original soundtrack. Instrumental rock seems to begin a still shy rebirth in Spain, as it has done in some parts of Europe, with a bunch of new bands and the re-joining of some of the pioneering ones, such as Los Coronas. From El Toros Reverb Series we are strongly decided to effort ourselves to give the genre a way to reach the rock audience.

Autor: RockinBalboa.