La Armada

La Armada [12-inch] (2012)

Joe Pelone

Recalling bands like Agnostic Front and (early) Refused, only Hispanic, La Armada deals in anger. Angry riffs. Angry lyrics. They're just angry about everything, and they will scream in Spanish about how much they hate things like organic produce ("Esclavitud Oránica") and capitalism (every song here) right in your face. While it can grow wearying at times, La Armada is just pissed off enough to work.

The lyrics sheet provides English translation, although not everything the band says comes off the same ("In this man-vomiting society / The most severe scarcity is the / Inveitable counterpart of being devoured by the machine," "Accomplice"). Still, the members get their anger across pretty easy with the vocals. This is not happy people music. Besides, La Armada's hardcore riffs are plentiful, and that's the real hook. You don't have to speak Spanish or hate society to dig on these tunes; just lay into the fat grooves and have a good time.

That being said, La Armada suffers from repetition just like most hardcore bands, and the language barrier doesn't help with that problem. You could lead with either side of this record and have the same experience, because the record doesn't flow so much as pummel nonstop. There's also something comical about how intensely antisocial the lyrics get. Song after song, La Armada go after capitalistic tenets without any subtly or humor, which just makes them sound more ridiculous. Propagandhi takes aim at a lot of institutions, but at least they slip some jokes in to temper the cynicism.