Las Kellies from Argentina!

[the_future_modernes]

From Rookie Magazine's Girl Groups from around the globe:

Fire Records

Las Kellies started in 2005 when three girls met at a gig in Buenos Aires, decided to have a band together and borrowed their friend's amps and instruments. Their third album, Kellies - released by Fire Records and mixed by Dennis Bovell (see The Slits, Madness, Fela Kuti), sees Las Kellies mixing catchy garage sounds with dub and post-punk that has earned 8/10 in NME and 4/5 in BUZZ.

Singing in Spanish, English, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Catalan and French, Las Kellies spent several years ensuring their prominence on the Argentinian music scene. With their first record, Shaking Dog! (2007), they created an irresistible blend of raw, spicy rock that owes as much to old rock and roll as it does the Raincoats, which turned out to be a veritable birthday party of a record.

In 2009 their second independent record, Kalimera, was released. That same year Las Kellies took the new, tighter songs on their first international tour, Rocking the Old World, unleashing their infectious energy onto Europe with their garage rhythms, teasing impertinence and all-out fun live shows that incorporate the dress sense of Devo and the bounciness of ESG.

Las Kellies are: Ceci Kelly, guitar and vocals; Betty Kelly, bass and vocals; Sil Kelly, drums and vocals.

Las Kellies - Perro Rompebolas

Kellies Interview

Interview with the band Kellies from Buenos Aires on occasion of their concert at the ladiyfest Berlin.

Kellies - Stop (Barcelona)

Las Kellies – The Collapse Board interview

In the spirit of the bilingual music of Las Kellies, the interview was conducted in English and Spanish.

Te gustaria introducir mismos?

Por supuesto. Somos las Kellies, de Buenos Aires, Argentina, el pais del dulce de leche, Che Guevara, Maradona y Messi, y mas importante Gilda.

Puede decirme algunos de los influencias no musicales que han influido en su musica?

Betty’s dog Cuchufo, Scotch Pancakes and whisky, fever, the wonderful weather in Argentina.

Rather than asking what kinds of music people like, I find it is more important to find out why people like what they do. I enjoyed your cover of ESG’s ‘Erase You’. What is it that you like about ESG? And why did you choose to cover this song?

We love ESG because they make our arses shake with their groovy minimal rhythm and no-shit vocals. We chose ‘Erase You’ because we use that phrase in Argentina to address lots of things.

I saw some footage of one of your performances in Argentina where it appeared everyone in the audience was dancing. On tour have you noticed if people dance more or less in certain places?

Oh yeah! In Exeter nobody danced, but we made up for that in Leeds and Leipzig and London and lots of other places where there was lots of head and hip moving. Apparently we made the French dance, but we’ve discovered that alcohol really helps our audiences to feel the beat, so the Germans were really into it.MORE

Las Kellies - Bling Bling

Las Kellies: Kellies @ clunfonograma.com

Picking up on a '70s sound and popular formation (for that time), Las Kellies’ revivalist flirtations go beyond their soundscape agenda. Kellies is the title of their third album, a great case study in trying to figure out our current definition of the post-punk femininity. Excuse my thirst for an all-girl review cliché, but there’s something so menacing about this record that would justify my fascination towards punk-girl plethora. History has seen the mother, the femme fatale, the bombshell, the transitional woman, the girl, and the Madonna, but, as in most aspects of cultural hegemony, it has overlooked its industrial characters. For all we know, Las Kellies might just be a trio of skilled and well-read friends who just happen to be females. But the physicality of their guitars, garage-raw tangents, and overall moxie reveals them as rebellious activists against any sort of decorative pin-up.

Leading single “Perro Rompebolas” is a fast-paced and all-consuming track worthy to be alongside any Paquita la del Barrio male-trashing track. Yet underneath the vocal ecstasy and barking, you can feel emotional depth pouring into chord progressions and nostalgia. “I don’t believe you, you’re just too good to be true” says the opening track “Prince in Blue.” Unlike many of the riot grrrl bands of the '70s, Las Kellies practice tongue-in-cheek conversation without conceding or compromising any of their socio-political discourse. MORE

Las Kellies - Sala Alive (Valencia) - 28/06/2011

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Argentina's Las Kellies Talk New Album, List Five Great South American Bands

Earlier this year, Las Kellies dropped their third album, 'Kellies,' and having performed throughout Europe and South America, the Argentinian rockers are looking forward to a possible -- though yet unconfirmed -- U.S. debut. In an interview with Spinner, singer and bassist Betty Kelly discussed the allure of post-punk and challenges facing female musicians in a "macho" culture. She also tipped us off to five killer South American bands everyone should know.

You guys are heavily influenced by post-punk groups like the Slits, the Raincoatsand the New York City punk-funk band ESG. How did you discover that stuff? Is it really popular in South America?

I'm not from [Argentina], so I first started listening to that stuff when I was living in Berlin. That was about 8 years ago. In a club, I heard the 'New York Noise' compilation, on Soul Jazz, the No Wave compilation, and that was instant love for me. I'm not sure how the girls started listening to ESG. I think it was partly through me and partly through some friends, but people don't listen to that stuff here quite so much. People are more into rock nacional and that kind of thing, perhaps more indie music from the UK, or the Ramones.

The documentary 'Ramones: Raw' shows them performing in South America -- they were like the Beatles down there. It's crazy.

Yeah, they're absolutely huge here. I was really surprised about that when I came here, because in England, not everyone knows who the Ramones are, but here, everybody is into them.

What is it about post-punk music that really grabbed you?

I think for me, it's because there's a mix of musical genres going on in there. We're really attracted to things that have more to do with rap and hip-hop and dub, and there seems to be a fusion going on with a lot of that. It's just really cool and laid back, and you can dance to it.

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