NEW YORK (Delanuca Records) - After a slow approach to the territory in the early 90s, Argentinean rock band
Ratones Paranoicos has strengthened its relation with U.S. audiences in the last decade.
Back in 1993, and out of love and respect for Memphis' rock'n'roll roots, the quartet recorded one of its most valuable albums in Elvistown. Four years went by between the recording of 'Hecho en Memphis' –the album that featured ex Rolling Stones' guitarist Mick Taylor as special guest- and the band's return to the States. But in the meantime, Ratones Paranoicos built its reputation in Argentina, putting up massive shows that established it as one of the top acts in the country.
In 1997, Ratones Paranoicos played some cities around its Unplugged show for MTV Latin America in Miami, and since then has regularly returned to the East Coast. Its last visit to the U.S. was meant to support the release of the live album 'Vivo Paranoico' (Delanuca Records) a selection of the best songs the band recorded since its debut, in 1986.
Now that it's almost in its twenties, the band is back with a brand new studio album, 'Girando' (Delanuca Records), where it updates its trademark rock sound with a funky, danceable twist that makes it one of the more solid releases in its career.
Recorded in Buenos Aires in late 2004, 'Girando' had two renowned producers on board, Alfredo Toth and Pablo Guyot, both with long and respected careers as musicians in Argentina. Toth was part of the seminal 70s band Los Gatos, and both producers shared the mid 80s pop-rock band G.I.T.
Comprised of a catchy dozen of new songs, 'Girando' will immediately appeal to every rock fan, and not only to those who speak Spanish. Everybody knows that there's nothing like a good riff to get things going!
'It's really scary when you are singing in Spanish to a mostly Anglo audience,' says singer Juan Sebastian 'Juanse' Gutierrez, 'you don't know if they hate you and are about to throw you a stone in the middle of your face, or if they are going to love it... I proudly have to say that, well, most of times, they do like us'.
Its live show has always been the best thing about Ratones Paranoicos. A raw combination of Rolling Stones' hooks and funky grooves, the band knows exactly what to do onstage. A Ratones' show is always worth the wait. They are known as the 'Argentinean Stones' and are proud of every single word written to remark how similar they look or sound if compared to that of Jagger and Co.
Once the Argentinean music industry decided to stop ignoring the band, and its members were able to play their first string of big shows in the late 80s, British producer Andrew Loog Oldham convinced the wary Argentinean press about Ratones Paranoicos being truthful to their hearts, and not merely Stones' posers.
Oldham, the producer that defined Rolling Stones' sound in the 60s accepted to work on most of the albums Ratones Paranoicos released in the 90s. As he did in the past, Oldham changed Ratones' sound, twisted it towards the classic rhythm & blues that had driven The Rolling Stones in the first place, and named Ratones authentic Stones' heirs.
'I think that we were vindicated by one fact: we got The Spin Doctors' spot as the opening act for the five Stones' shows in Buenos Aires,' points out Juanse, who considers that The Rolling Stones are as important as medicine.
The first time Mick Jagger and Keith Richards played in Buenos Aires, during the Voodoo Lounge Tour in 1995, 300.000 people paid to see them. Two hours before each of the five Rolling Stones' shows, Ratones Paranoicos faced its biggest audience ever.
Ever since, the band members have factually kept on rocking. 'I can't stop doing it,' sings Juanse in one of 'Girando' new tracks. Ratones Paranoicos keep on rolling. Simple as it sounds.
The Ratones Paranoicos are:
Juan Sebastián 'Juanse' Gutierrez: Singer
Pablo 'Sarcófago' Cano: Guitarist
Ruben 'Roy' Quiroga: Drummer
Fabián 'Zorro' Quintiero: Bassist
