Music / Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota

"¿Son por acaso, ustedes hoy, un público respetable?"^note "Are you gentlemen today a respectable audience?"^{Left to right}Skay Beilinson, Walter Sidotti, Indio Solari, Semilla Bucciarelli and Sergio Dawi. Not pictured: Hernán Aramberri, Rocambole, La Negra Poly and every single member prior to this lineup.

"Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota" is a rock music band from Argentina. Yes, all that is the name, so fans usually shorten it to the Fan Nickname of "Los Redondos".

The band was formed in 1976 in La Plata, by members of former bands La Cofradía de la Flor Solar, Dulcemembriyo and Diplodocum Red & Brown. They became a success in the underground circuit in the early 1980s, and released their first LP in 1984, Gulp!. However, it wasn't until Oktubre, released two years later, that the band became the country's phenomenon. They kept releasing albums and doing live concerts until 1991, where the fan Walter Bulacio died by Police Brutality. Afterwards, the band limited itself to playing more sporadically until they ended up playing once or twice per year, though the albums continued to be released until their breakup in 2001. During the latter part of The '90s, they were banned in some venues and cities. Afterwards, both leaders of the band, Carlos "Indio" Solari and Eduardo "Skay" Beilinson, began fruitful solo careers that continue to our days.

Still, the band's musical legacy, as well as their rejection to play on major labels, and their influence on Argentina's musical scene throughout The '90s onwards, granted them a reputation and street cred that surpasses any incident and controversy related to them. It's not uncommon to walk in any street in Argentina without their music sounding from somewhere.

Members

Last known lineup

• Carlos "Indio" Solari - Vocals (1976-2001)
• Eduardo "Skay" Beilinson - Guitars (1976-2001)
• Daniel Fernando "Semilla" Bucciarelli - Bass (1982-2001)
• Walter Sidotti - Drums (1987-2001)
• Sergio Dawi - Saxophone, harmonics and keyboards (1987-2001)
• Hernán Aramberri - Sequences (1997-2001)
• Ricardo "Rocambole" Cohen - Art (1976-2001)
• Carmen "La Negra Poly" Policastro - Manager (1976-2001)

Former members

• Eduardo Guillermo Pantano "Willy" Crook - Saxophone (1984-1987)
• Tito Fargo D'Aviero - Guitars (1984-1987)
• "Piojo" Ábalos - Drums (1984-1986)
• Gabriel "Conejo" Jolivet - Guitars and slide (1978-1979; 1993-1998)
• Gonzalo Palacios - Saxophone (1983-1984)

Discography

Studio albums

• Gulp! (1985)
• Oktubre (1986)
• Un Baión para el Ojo Idiota (1987)
• ¡Bang! ¡Bang! Estás Liquidado (1989)
• La Mosca y la Sopa (1991)
• Lobo Suelto (1993)
• Cordero atado (1993)
• Luzbelito (1996)
• Último Bondi a Finisterre (1998)
• Momo Sampler (2000)

Live albums

• En Directo (1992)

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The band shows examples of:

• Addiction Song:
  • "Sorpresa en Shanghai", from Lobo Suelto, is about a drug addict who does drugs in company of other people.
  • Half of "Un Pacman en el Savoy", from Bang! Bang! Estás liquidado, is about a guy who's addicted to gambling, especially horse racing.
• Album Title Drop:
  • A partial one in "Gualicho" from "Último Bondi a Finisterre"
  El "zumba" se colgó
  del bondi a Finisterre.
  • The opener "El Templo de Momo" quotes the album it originates from, Momo Sampler, in the second chorus, partially to set the tone for the album itself.
• Anti-Anti-Christ: "Lobo caído", from Lobo Suelto, is about the anthropomorphic representation of evil as a wolf ("Lupus el lobo") being tired of being associated with evil.
• Anti-Love Song: The subject of "Motorpsico", from Oktubre, is undergoing a Crisis of Faith derived from a bad love experience.
• Audience Participation Song: Almost all of their songs have a memorable line or riff, so it's not uncommon to hear the audience singing them. The biggest example in this regard is "Juguetes Perdidos", from Luzbelito, usually chosen as the show's ending song.
• Author Appeal:
  • Semilla has contributed a few songs to the band such as "Mi Perro Dinamita" and "Ella Debe Estar Tan Linda". These songs share something in common: they are twist rock songs.
  • Despite what urban legends and false statements may tell you, Solari's lyrics can be divided in two groups: hard personal experiences and his own literary and visual preferences.
• Concept Album: Momo Sampler is a picture of Argentina's society around the time it was done, with different characters from all the different walks of society being represented in every song, from the lower and indigent classes ("Una piba con la remera de Greenpeace", "Rato molhado", "La murga de la virgencita") to those in the middle class whose interests vary from the weird but innocuous ("Morta punto com") to the outright dangerous ("Sheriff", about a woman obsessed with what was called "gatillo fácil" and "mano dura"). The opener "El templo de Momo" even calls this version of Argentina's society a "murga".
• Cop Hater: Many of their songs paint a negative light on law enforcers: "Fusilados por la Cruz Roja", "Nuestro Amo Juega al Esclavo", "Drogocop" and "Sheriff", for example. Being a survivor of Argentina's military dictatorship and Police Brutality being a common factor on their nineties/early-Turn of the Millennium shows (with a gig even ending with a dead fan, Walter Bulacio), it's no wonder Solari distrusts them a lot in his lyrics.
• Cover Version: "Roadhouse Blues", which can only be found in some bootlegs.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • Their output from 1986's Oktubre to 1993's double album Lobo Suelto/Cordero Atado is this compared to 1984's festive and upbeat Gulp!, produced when Los Redondos were a troupe with a rock band on top of it. Darker lyrics, darker themes (the 1917 Russian Revolution in "Fuegos de Oktubre", the foreign invasion of another country in "Nuestro Amo Juega al Esclavo" and "Rock Para los Dientes" and drug experiences such as the one depicted in "Ji ji ji") and a more streamlined rock band format (product of Solari replacing the troupe with three musicians who defined the band's sound) shaped the band's catalogue for the period. The positive side is that, at least, those songs were covered under Solari's cryptic writing as well as the happy-sounding music.
  • 1996's Luzbelito was the transition point between the two eras. It had less hits than the hit-filled prior albums, an even darker sound, darker lyrics and darker themes such as satanism ("Fanfarria del Cabrío", which could easily pass as a Black Sabbath song), the life and last moments of big name drug dealer Pablo Escobar Gaviria ("Me Matan Limón") and the actual loss of freedom ("Blues de la Libertad"). There was the ocassional Hope Spot ("Juguetes Perdidos") and happy songs ("Mariposa Pontiac/Rock del País"), but for the most part, this album set the stage for the darker direction the band was about to take. The fact that the band was having serious issues with their newfound popularity at the time, right until the split, doesn't help.
  • Their last two albums, 1997's Último Bondi a Finisterre to 2000's Momo Sampler are quite darker compared to most of their back catalogue. For once, they're mostly devoid of hits (even though songs such as "Gualicho" and "Una Piba con la Remera de Greenpeace" did saw some radio airing) and direct songs. Then there's the incorporation of Hernán Aramberri as the band's keyboardist and programmer, whose work gave the band a quite dark sound, making some songs not quite for those who liked Los Redondos' more direct rock. Momo Sampler, in particular, is a Concept Album about the turmoiled state of the Argentinean society facing the Turn of the Millennium.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Gulp! was produced while the band was still a troupe with a rock band added on top of it, and as such has a female choir and extra instrumentation. The production was also significantly different from the rest of the band's discography, featuring a quasi-electronic sound for its drums, and more acute-sounding guitars.
• Genre Shift:
  • "Murga Purga" from Momo Sampler is, for all intents and purposes, a rock band playing a murga.
  • Their albums, in broad strokes, went from a post punk sound to a darker hard rock style as years went by.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack: Lobo Suelto starts with "Invocación", a track ambiented with a guitar riff and a heartbeat on the background.
• Hope Spot: From "Juguetes Perdidos", from Luzbelito:
  Cuando la noche es más oscura^note When the night is at its darkest
  se viene el día en tu corazón.^note the day comes into your heart
• Just Got Out of Jail: The Cut Song "Rock de las Abejas" is about a former prisoner who got out of jail after a heist.
• I Just Want to Be Free: "Blues de la Libertad", from Luzbelito, is about the quest for freedom as a motivation, a necessity, and the hardships of both not having it and the hardships which are associated with obtaining it.
• Limited Lyrics Song:
  • "Fuegos de Oktubre" from Oktubre has only three lines that are repeated across the song:
  "De regreso a Oktubre, desde Oktubre^note Returning to Oktober, from Oktober
  Sin un estandarte de mi parte^note Without a banner, on my part
  Te prefiero igual, internacional^note I still prefer you, international."
  • "Invocación", the opening track of Lobo Suelto, has Solari repeating several times "Lobo"^note Wolf
• Long-Runner Line-up: With the sole exception of the inclusion of Hernán Aramberri, the lineup Indio-Skay-Semilla-Walter-Dawi lasted from 1987's Un Baión Para El Ojo Idiota all the way until their breakup in 2001.
• Perfection Is Static: The trope is invoked almost word-by-word in "Dr. Saturno", which features the phrase "Dios es todo, no puede progresar"^note God is everything, he cannot improve
• Police Brutality: "Sheriff", from Momo Sampler is sung from the POV of a woman who keeps requesting the police officer to treat delinquents of all walks of life with harshness. It's implied she doesn't know that her son may be involved in immoral acts that make him a target of the same "mano dura" she requests.
• Religion Rant Song: "Lobo caído", from Lobo Suelto, takes quite a lot of potshots towards the world's religions, which Solari considers as "merca" (slang for drugs) and accusing them of medically operating the human consciousness ("el mal gusto encalló en un manantial frío (frío de bisturí)"^note "the bad taste lasted in a cold manantial (scalpel cold)"). He also talks about them as "caricaturas" (toons) which fill the road of knowledge.
• Self-Backing Vocalist: By Solari's own admission on some post-Redondos interviews, he did most of the backing vocals for the songs. He said that Skay could do backing vocals, but that on the records he ended up doing said job.
• Shout-Out:
  • "Divina TV Führer" from Oktubre, is inspired by Nineteen Eighty-Four.
  • "Scaramanzia", from Luzbelito, is inspired by a videogame.
  • "Fusilados por la Cruz Roja" and "Drogocop" outright allude to or directly mention RoboCop, although not exactly in a positive light.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: "¡Estás frito, angelito!", from Último Bondi a Finisterre is about the subject singing to a third party about how life is hard and how everything is out there for him if he doesn't abandon his excessive idealism.
• Something Blues: "Blues de la Artillería", from La Mosca y La Sopa; "Blues de la Libertad", from Luzbelito; "Blues del Noticiero", from En Directo; the Cut Song "Para Monona Blues"...
• Take That!:
  • Two songs, "Blues de la Artillería" and "Salando las heridas", both from La Mosca y La Sopa, are potshots towards journalist, monologuist and former Redondos member Enrique Symns, who left the band in bad terms and never stopped attacking Indio, Skay and Poly for, in his words, "betraying the rest of the troupe".
  • The song "Es hora de levantarse querido, ¿dormiste bien?" from Cordero Atado is a potshot towards Página 12's journalist Carlos Polimeni, something that was even acknowledged in several shows.
  • The song "Preso en mi Ciudad", from Oktubre, is a potshot towards The '80s' pop music, which was "sucking dry" rock music. Solari describes it as a "Drácula con tacones" (High-heel Dracula), a music empty of any kind of content, uncompromised. Rock isn't safe from these potshots, as Solari declares it's "atrapado en libertad" ("Trapped in freedom") and "ya no llora" ("it doesn't cry"), as if the rebellious nature of the genre was sucked dry by both pop music and the government sponsoring it. The circumstances of the song both contrasts the post-dictatorial Argentina with the country under the military dictatorship, where rock music was "allowed" to be rebellious.
  • Cop Hating is a common theme on Solari's lyrics, from using RoboCop to paint them in an unflattering light ("Fusilados por la Cruz Roja", "Drogocop") to outright call them tools for more powerful people ("Nuestro Amo Juega al Esclavo").
• Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup: Invoked by name in "Cruz Diablo", from Luzbelito:
  "Son tantos los cocineros que joden la sopa"^note "The cooks who fuck up the soup are too many"

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"Cuando la noche es más oscura,
se viene el día en tu corazón"

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