Animalia Lotsatuen Putzua

Lisabö isn’t well known outside of the Basque Country, where the band resides in the small town of Irún in Northern Spain. For years the quintet has been making copious noise that draws from American bands like Slint and Fugazi, while maintaining the punk-rock spirit of BAP!! and Kortatu, two bands that were a pivotal part of the Basque Radical Rock movement of the early-’80s. Animalia Lotsatuen Putzua (“Well of the Shamed Animals”) is a dark and Herculean opus enveloped by layers of guitars that can blow your hair back one minute and lull you the next. The band’s two-drummer attack also adds to the power without being too busy, while vocals (spoken in the Basque language of Euskara) are barked and occasionally spoken. It’s intense, especially on the album’s more sprawling numbers. The shortest track is just under six minutes, but it’s songs like “Oinazearen Intimitatea” (“The Privacy of Pain”) and “Laztan Isilen Deiadarra” (“The Cry of the Silent Caresses”) that take some truly unruly twists and turns. It’s not happy music. In fact, it’s pretty grueling stuff, but it can be beautiful. The ferocity and relentlessness of Lisabö is something that should be held dear.