Rock A Vila ‎– "¡¡ Goza la Vida !!" 1993****

If you asked me a month ago about Balearic music, the only kind that would come to mind is the so-called Balearic House scene, a kind of electronic chill-out music with exotic sprinkles that originated in Ibiza clubs and dominated the 90's and 00's. Which is sooo unfair to the people of these beautiful islands. We're talking about music made (mostly) by foreigners for the entertainment of tourists - that's what people know of their culture. Now I'm not an islander myself, but I come from an island country and I see what summer is like for the locals. Want to know what summer in Ibiza (or Santorini, or Paros) is like for them? Work, work, work. Not that I feel sorry for them, they mostly make good money and have the rest of the year to relax. With the visitors gone (I'm talking about Greece now, I wouldn't know about Ibiza) life resumes its regular pace, the people reclaim their space and are free to engage in other activities than serving tourists, and to play the music they like - which may be pop, rock, classical, jazz or folk - surely anything except the so-called Balearic Beat.

During my recent trip to Mallorca I researched second-hand record stores for local (as well as generally Spanish) music - some folk, but mostly rock as that is my favorite genre. Among other LP's I picked from the offers section, I got this one. I thought here's a Spanish-language rockabilly album made in Ibiza, that challenges any preconceptions one has about rockabilly and about Ibiza which, as I mentioned, people always identify with chill-out electronica. Now these boys don't seem too chill: they seem passionate about the music and culture of a long-gone era, the era that gave birth to the greatest musical revolution since the first guitar was plugged into an amplifier. When I saw them on the cover I was immediately reminded of Athens rockabillies I grew up with: same pose, same clothes, hair, and faces (I guess we Mediterraneans look alike). As for the island town on the background, that also looked familiar: the boats on the port, the three-story buildings on the front line (in Greece these are typically holiday rentals with cafeterias or taverns on the ground floor), church and defensive walls on the top for protection against pirates... all like a typical Greek island. The most complete bio of this band can be found in this Spanish blog. With a bit of help from google translation, this seems to be their story: the band was formed by 4 teenage boys in 1986, and won second place in a 1990 Ibiza Battle-Of-The-Bands-style contest leading to a split LP with the winners, Falsa Alarma. In '93 they traveled to Mérida, Spain, to record this, their only, LP. They never seem to have made a serious attempt for a national (let alone international) career, other than supporting visiting rockers, and dissolved soon after, with the exception of a short 2004 reunion. For what seems to be an unambitious bunch, the band's playing and record production is surprisingly professional, akin to a Spanish version of The Stray Cats - which means a retro sound with a more contemporary alt-rock production. Mostly ultra fast -but still quite danceable- good-timey rockabilly featuring boogie woogie piano, just the right amount of guitar solos, and confident vocals to the effect that the Spanish lyrics roll naturally - which is not always a given. There's some stylistic variation with a couple of Elvis-style ballads ("Cuando Pienso En Ti", "Corazon Solitario"), jump-blues "Amiga Fiel", and Southern Rock "Lookin' Out My Back Door". The latter (originally written by John Fogerty) is the only cover, and one of just two tracks sung in English - the other being "Movin' Shack". Apparently there's no re-release or CD edition of this album. Never been sold on discogs - possibly a rare, though not necessarily sought-after, item. Concerning the rating, I was divided between 3* and 4*. On the one hand there's little, other than geography, to distinguish Rock A Vila from other revival bands. On the other hand, this is a decent rockabilly record which any lover of classic rock'n'roll is bound to enjoy. It is the fun factor, along with the fact that this obviously a labor of love, that drove me to award it 4*.

**** for Goza La Vida, Camino De Destruccion, Viejo Sam, Movin' Shack

*** for Amiga Fiel, Hoy Volvere, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Sobre Dos Ruedas, Corazon Solitario, Dulce Azul, El Diablo De La Carretera

** for Cuando Pienso En Ti