The Nu Niles
Sin Rendición
"Sin Rendición" is a record which is something special for anyone who thinks they know what to expect from Spanish rock music. It’s subtle but basic - a cool breeze through the national rock and roll scene
The title of the LP and one of the tracks means No Surrender, and it just might be the Nu Niles’ most eagerly awaited record yet. It was recorded and mixed in Barcelona in the Meteosat studios, mastered by Mike Mariconda in Gijon’s Estudios Perotti, and produced by Mario Cobo, and is impossible to categorise. Or maybe not impossible if “Nu Niles Sound” is a category, because it feeds off all the Nu Niles influences, tips a hat at all their favourite musicians, and mixes the whole thing all up in the Nu Niles’ cocktail shaker.
Eleven self-penned tracks – “Tramposo y Mentiroso” and “Shot Shot Shot” are Spanish versions of tracks from previous albums, “Qué Pasa” is a re-working of a song from their debut album and on their cover of the legendary Barcelona Psychobilly/Neo-Rockabilly band The Brioles’ number “Be Bop Ska” the brass section adds yet another touch of variety to an album that’s already full of stylistic twists and turns.
The result is a record which is something special for anyone who thinks they know what to expect from Spanish rock music. It’s subtle but basic - a cool breeze through the national rock and roll scene. It’s full of unforgettable and surprising tracks like “Perdido” “No Lo Vi Venir” “Eso Si Que No” and “Un Solo Boton”.
Euphoric. Rewarding. Sweat-drenched. Hard-hitting. Smooth. Wild. Tough but tender. Softly aggressive … it’ll knock you out. They’ve made something that only the Nu Niles could have made. Because of what they represent. Because of all they’ve done. And, mainly, because of what they are – a superb rock and roll band we can finally hear in Spanish. Well ain’t we the lucky ones?
Right from the moment they first formed in1996, The Nu Niles have been playing the music they love. They started as a pure rockabilly band when that idea was totally anti-fashion, and probably one of the most underground things a band could be doing. They kept evolving until they found the unique Nu Niles sound of today – a mixture of basic Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, Surf, Punk, Ska, TexMex and Spaghetti Western themes, which somehow creates a solid whole.
Their proper debut is an acknowledged classic of Spanish rockabilly, and an LP that has become a reference point for all lovers of the style: what else could we be talking about than Good Luck, Good friends and Good Rockin’ (PART records, 1998)? A few years down the line, with the current line-up in place, they reinvented themselves under the banner of “Authentic 50’s Punk” on an LP packed with a variety of influences and an energy and sound leaning more towards greased-back garage-punk, opening them up to a more varied audience. Destination Now was like a blast of fresh air for anyone hearing the band for the first time. It’s something of a collector’s item among many lovers of Rock ‘n’ Roll, touching a variety of styles and genres without ever settling on any single one. It would have been easy for the band to repeat the formula on their next record You Didn’t Come to My Funeral (El Toro Records 2007) but instead they kept on pushing and under he capable guidance of Mike Mariconda (Raunch Hands, Devil Dogs, The Vancouvers) they made a rock ‘n’ roll record that took a lot more risks and managed to be a lot more raw, while at the same time being more mature in terms of song-writing and arrangements. Around this time, the band came up with the idea of doing a whole album in Spanish, deciding to record it during the Funeral sessions.
The Nu Niles have more than ten European tours to their name and two on the West coast of the USA as well as having played at the most prestigious rockabilly/rock ‘n’ roll festivals in the world. (Let’s see: Viva Las Vegas (USA ’02), Greenbay (USA ´03 and ‘05), Hemsby (UK ’98 & ’01), Rockin’ Rollin’ Walldorf (Germany ’00), Summer Jamboree (Italy ’04), Psychomeeting (Spain, ’05), Hollywood Showdown (USA ’05 and '07) Rockabilly Bombardment (Austria '08) and too many others to mention.
So it would be pretty safe to say that this is a band with a solid live reputation who are more ready than ever to take the stage (their natural habitat) to present the songs from their new album, Sin Rendición.
Latin: Rock en Espanol