Music / Bersuit Vergarabat

Bersuit Vergarabat is an Argentinean festive rock band formed in 1988, originating in Barracas, Buenos Aires. Much like their contemporaries Los Autenticos Decadentes, this group combines rock music with other popular genres such as cumbia, tango, reggae, murga, folklore and candombe. Unlike them, though, they have a more "serious" approach in their music, with lyrical themes about social issues, everyday happenings, and the like. They were even censored several times.

The band was formed when vocalist Gustavo Cordera returned from a trip to Brazil at the tail end of his studies on social communication. He shaved his hair, sold his old agency and abandoned his studies in order to create the band, meeting his future band members (who were already playing as "Los Prehistóricos") at an old house, where they improvised some of their old songs. The initial lineup of the band was conformed by Cordera, guitarist Charly Bianco, bassist Pepe Céspedes, drummer Carlos Martín and keyboardist Juan Subirá. Rhythm guitarist Oscar Righi, backing/alternate vocalist Rubén Sadrinas, keyboardist Raúl Pagano and percussionist Marcela Chediak completed the lineup that recorded the debut album ...Y punto, released in 1992.

For the release of 1993's Asquerosa Alegría, Sadrinas and Pagano departed (leaving Cordera as the only vocalist) and guitarist/vocalist Alberto "Tito" Verenzuela joined the band replacing Bianco. They were also joined by legendary Argentinean producer Gustavo Santaolalla, who was a fundamental figure in their popularity. Several more members came and went until the settling of the lineup that recorded 1998's Libertinaje, their magnum opus, which contains the hits "Yo Tomo", "Se Viene" and "Señor Cobranza", a Cover Version of a song by Las Manos De Filippi: Cordera, Céspedes, Martín, Right, Verenzuela and backing/alternate vocalists Daniel Suárez and Germán "Cóndor" Sbarbatti. This lineup is considered their peak years' lineup, playing in tons of big name festivals and gigs and eventually reaching the mythical stadium of River Plate. It also recorded everything between Libertinaje and 2007's ? (yep, that's the album's name).

Creative Differences prevented this lineup to continue, though, with Cordera proposing the band to stop after said album, and later parting ways with the band, with Cordera launching a solo career. The band without Cordera returned in 2011.

Aside of their music, they also contributed and recorded Real Song Theme Tunes for several argentinean series.

Discography

• 1992 - ...Y Punto - "El Tiempo no Para", "Hociquito de Ratón"
• 1993 - Asquerosa Alegría - "Los Elefantitos", "Tu Pastilla Fue", "Fuera de Acá", "Clara", "Decile a tu Mamá" and "Ausencia de Estribillo".
• 1996 - Don Leopardo - "Espíritu de Esta Selva", "Bolero Militar", "Ojo Por Ojo", "La Mujer Perfecta", "Bolivian Surf", "Mi Caramelo", "Al Fondo de la Red" and "Ruego".
• 1998 - Libertinaje - "Yo Tomo", "A los Tambores", "Se Viene", "Murguita del Sur", "Señor Cobranza", "Vuelos", "C.S.M.", "¿Qué pasó?"
• 2000 - Hijos del Culo - "El Gordo Motoneta", "La Del Toro", "El Viejo de Arriba", "Desconexión Sideral", "Porteño de Ley", "La Petisita Culona", "La Bolsa" and "Negra Murguera"
• 2002 - De la Cabeza Con Bersuit Vergarabat (Live album) - "Un Pacto", "Perro Amor Explota"
• 2004
  • La Argentinidad al Palo (Se es...) - "Coger No Es Amor", "La Soledad", "La Argentinidad al Palo", "Al Olor del Hogar".
  • La Argentinidad al Palo (...lo que se es) - "Porno Star", "Y No Está Solo", "El Viento Trae Una Copla".
• 2005 - Testosterona - "Madre Hay Una Sola", "Sencillamente", "En la Ribera", "Esperando el Impacto", "Yo".
• 2006 - Lados BV (Rarities album)
• 2007 - ? - "Laten Bolas", "Mi Vida", "Ansiando Libertad".
• 2012 - La Revuelta - "Cambiar el Alma", "No Te Olvides", "Dios Te Salve", "Así Es".
• 2014 - El Baile Interior - "Cuatro Vientos", "Me Voy", "Ahí Va Chavela", "Para Bailar", "Tilcara En Carnaval", "De Tripas Corazón".
• 2016 - La Nube Rosa - "Como Decirte", "Que Hable De Vos", "Obstinato".
• 2019 - De La Cabeza 2 (Live and Studio album)

Band members

• Current lineup:
  • Daniel Suárez - vocals (1997-...)
  • Germán "Cóndor" Sbarbati - vocals (1997-...)
  • Alberto Verenzuela - vocals, guitars (1994-...)
  • Juan Subirá - vocals, keyboards (1988-...)
  • René "Pepe" Céspedes - bass guitar (1988-...)
  • Carlos Martín - drums (1988-...)
• Former members:
  • Gustavo Cordera - vocals (1988-2009)
  • Marcela Chediak - percussion (1990-1993)
  • Oscar Righi - rhythm guitar (1990-2016)
  • Carlos "Charly" Bianco - lead guitar (1990-1994)
  • Rubén Sadrinas - vocals (1989-1996)
  • Raúl Pagano - keyboards (1990-1993; d. July 14, 2020)

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The band shows examples of:

• Badass Boast: In "La argentinidad al palo", after the list of Argentinian achievements is followed by a list of Argentine political scandals, the narrator goes up in a profane tirade (implied to be against the corrupt politicians mentioned just before).
  Pero que me vienen a correr con la pija muerta ^Translation But what are they doing coming here to want to make me run with a dead dick
  ¡Que yo la tengo mucho más grande que ustedes! ^Translation That I have it much bigger than you!
  ¡Cuando vos fuiste yo fui y vine 40 veces! ^Translation When you left, I went and came back 40 times!
  ¡A estos boludos yo me los cojo parado! ^Translation I can fuck these jerks standing up!
• Concept Album: The first 15 songs of Don Leopardo are based on a story the band crafted about a fictional man called Don Leopardo Vir Thomsio.
• Cover Version:
  • "El Tiempo No Para", from ...Y Punto, is a Spanish version of a sing by Brazilian musician Cazuza.
  • "Al Fondo de la Red", from Don Leopardo, is a cover from Uruguayan musician Mauricio Ubal.
  • "Señor Cobranza", from Libertinaje, was originally a song by protest rock band Las Manos de Filippi.
  • They did a version of Sandro's "Una Muchacha y Una Guitarra" for the tribute album Tributo a Sandro: Un Disco de Rock.
• Cranky Neighbor: "El Viejo de Arriba", from Hijos del Culo, is an inversion: the narrator/singer is a party person, and his neighbor wants him to shut up because his party style doesn't allow him to get rest.
• Early-Bird Cameo: "Los Elefantitos", from Asquerosa Alegría, is part of the story of Don Leopardo.
• Earth Song: "Madre Hay Una Sola", from Testosterona, is both this and Gaia's Lament, claiming that "[societal] progress was a failure, a suicide" and that "prosperity was the heaviest wagon". In the chorus, the titular Gaia is portrayed as a woman being raped in a pathetic feast by humanity.
• Epic Rocking: "La Mujer Perfecta", from Don Leopardo, is a 12-minute improvisation.
• Grief Song: "Para Luis", from El Baile Interior, is dedicated to Luis Alberto Spinetta.
• Homage:
  • "Mi Caramelo", the closer of Don Leopardo, is a song Cordera wrote about his Childhood Love Interest.
  • "Toco y Me Voy", from Hijos del Culo, is dedicated to argentinean football player Ricardo Bochini.
• Intercourse with You: "Gente de Mierdas" from Libertinaje is a happy chacarera where the singer invites a woman to a forest in order to make love.
• List Song: "La Argentinidad al Palo" from the namesake album is a song listing several Argentine accomplishments, including things invented in Argentina, or that were introduced/first made in the Americas by Argentina.
• Longest Song Goes Last:
  • "¿Qué pasó?" (6:01) closes Libertinaje.
  • "La Calavera" (5:42) closes La Argentinidad al Palo (Se es...).
• Mood Whiplash: Quite frequent with the band. An example is "C.S.M." from Libertinaje is about government oppression, ambiented on top of a festive cumbia-like background.
• Protest Song:
  • Libertinaje has "Se Viene" and "Señor Cobranza". It also contains "C.S.M." (for then-president of Argentina Carlos Saúl Menem), which is a song where the destruction of the ass is used as a slang for government oppression.
  • Hijos del Culo is a profanity-laden slang that describes children being born from poverty.
• The Reliable One: "Porteño de Ley"^note "Lawful Portenian", from Hijos del Culo, where the singer boasts about how he prides on representing this trope while talking to another party (possibly the listener), calling himself a "savior" and doing what needs to be done.
• Refuge in Vulgarity: The band makes no attempt at hiding this, starting from the cover artwork of Asquerosa Alegría being formed by naked women and the clown on the cover being made of two naked asses, and goes downhill from there.
• Shout-Out:
  • "Vuelos" is based on the book El Vuelo.
  • "Desconexión Sideral" is based on a tale by Ray Bradbury.
• Spoken Word in Music: Most of "La Mujer Perfecta", from Don Leopardo, is sung in this format.
• Start My Own: After the hiatus due to Cordera's solo projects, the rest of the band (minus Martín, Verenzuela and Subirá, who later recorded a solo project) formed a side project called De Bueyes, which recorded an album called Más que una Yunta.
• Title Drop: The chorus of "Espíritu de Esta Selva" contains the title of its album, Don Leopardo.

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