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La Gritona's discography 2xCD (for those of you who like long titles, its official moniker is Demasiado Tonto Para Los Niños Listos. Demasiado Listo Para Los Niños Tontos) hit the shelves yesterday, and in honor of the event, and because of all the questions, we have launched a very limited La Gritona t-shirt. These shirts were hand screened by Colin, the lovely lead man of La Gritona, and feature his original artwork. They are pretty badass, check it:
As previously stated, these shirts are super limited, so head over to our webstore here to grab one. And pick up a copy of the 2xCD discography cause it is equally kick-ass. Alarm Press placed it on the best albums of the week list and had these gracious worlds to say:
Headquartered in mid-1990s Boston, La Gritona took a definite influence from the Amphetamine Reptile roster, drawing upon elements of Helmet, Unsane, and The Jesus Lizard while channeling the vocal intensity of Henry Rollins.
The material is a dissonant, debauched mix of down-tuned guitars, distorted bass, mid-tempo beats, atonal vocals, and noise. A song such as "+2 Charisma" (bonus points for D&D reference) aptly summarizes the band's raw energy and repetitive power in just 63 seconds, and the collection's live tracks capture La Gritona's on-stage muscle.
Descriptive Text:
It was the live show that did it for me. Imagine massive slabs of discordance at earsplitting volume and a terrifyingly intense, tattooed madman working out his personal demons while wearing a too-small Sonic the Hedgehog tee shirt and that gives you a good idea of what La Gritona were like in the live setting. At the time most bands in Boston were recycling Sabbath riffs or ripping off Helmet but La Gritona were tapping into something darker and heavier. There was the obvious Black Flag intensity but concurrently The Birthday Party, Voivod and Swans were subtly being referenced and the result put most people outside of their comfort zone. It was raw, sublime, artsy and barbaric all at once. It was like watching The Lost Highway after being awake for 24 hours; you couldn’t quite follow the narrative but you knew you were witnessing something that was just outside of your grasp and the truth lie just beyond the comforting glow of the campfire deep beyond the treeline.
The role of innovator can be a lonely path. William Blake was largely unrecognized during his lifetime but is now thought of a seminal figure in the art world but I hesitate to use the word “art” to describe La Gritona. They were a band that created ugly, brutal and emotionally intense music that was criminally under- appreciated when they were around. Luckily the material has been rescued from obscurity by the good people at Tortuga and assembled in this document, giving you an audio snapshot of the shot, intense career of La Gritona, a band “too dumb for the smart kids and too smart for the dumb kids.”