Meet Lo Siento, your new favourite Spanish-singing, St. John’s NL-based indie pop band.
LISTEN:
It sounds like a classic clickbait description, but Lo Siento are going to be your new favourite Spanish-singing, St. John’s NL-based indie pop band the second you start spinning their debut release, Bingo Bango.
I got into it while at the gym the other day, letting its peppy beat set the tempo for a workout that a) I wasn’t in the least bit motivated to do, and b) I’d been making excuses to avoid for well over a week. I fell for vocalist/guitarist Pepa Chan’s charms instantly. The melodies are simple and infectious as all get-out, but even with my remedial, broken-Spanish, I could tell Chan and bandmates Andrea McGuire (bass) and Allison Graves (drums) weren’t writing about standard twee-pop subject matter in the same way as others. Opener “Promesas” is a about one of those nailbiter conversations, where you’re teetering on the verge of sharing something so personal and massive with someone. Saying it out loud may unload a huge burden off your shoulders, or it may wreak more havoc than you can imagine. Lo Siento captures the tension and anticipation and bottles it into a wickedly fun two-minute pop explosion. Like the English translation of the title “No Tengo Remedio”, you’ll have no choice but to succumb to Lo Siento.
Back at the gym, panting and sweaty, but smiling broadly, I pulled my headphones off as the last shouts of “te dije que no!” on “No Es No” faded out, only to hear a thumping generic dancer cover of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” sung in Spanish blasting out of the circuit-training class happening close by. I got those headphones back on and hit the treadmill for another quick sprint. Bingo Bango’s seven songs are over in a heartbeat, but Lo Siento’s heartwarming blast of twee pop sincerity lasted long enough to move and motivate me for the rest of the day.
