After beginning the festivities in 2022 with their debut album, London’s Los Bitchos are continuing to explore new territory on their second full-length collection of surfy neo-psych riffs, cumbia, and other instrumental (well, barring the occasional confrontational interjection, as heard on opener “Hi!”) guitar-rock experiments on the forthcoming Talkie Talkie. Having worked with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos on Let the Festivities Begin!, and more recently remixing The Go! Team for their upcoming Thunder, Lightning, Strike reissue, the Bitchos feel deeply entrenched in the lineage of indie rock, even if they don’t always sound like something you might hear on a CMJ sampler CD.
By expanding their sound on Talkie Talkie, though, the quartet aims to welcome a more diverse audience to the party they’re throwing. “We feel like Talkie Talkie is like a club where everyone is welcome,” shares drummer Nic Crawshaw, “and there are all these different rooms and there is something for everyone. You can take your own journey through and encounter different sounds and vibes along the way!” In being an open-ended journey, it feels natural that the record was inspired by such open-world influences as Grand Theft Auto and their native London’s actual club scene, as explored by the band in their more impressionable years. Additionally, as the cliché goes, the city itself was a character in the record’s creation, as synth player Agustina Ruiz notes that traversing London helped get the creative juices flowing.
With Talkie Talkie arriving this Friday via City Slang, check out the band’s five biggest non-musical influences on the project below. You can also pre-order the record here.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Serra Petale: This is one of my favorite video games of all time. Not only is the gameplay completely immersive, but the soundtrack is incredible. You can cruise around in a variety of cars (stolen or purchased) and flick through an incredible array of radio stations that play the most quintessential ’80s hits—everything from Laura Brannigan to Twisted Sister. The union of music and gaming has so much power and completely sets the atmosphere that elevates the story at hand. Many of the songs on our album are influenced by this nuance, and propels the idea that your imagination can take you anywhere if you just let it.
Nights at the club as a teen/twentysomething
Nic Crawshaw: I would say those club nights from my late teens and 20s where there would be different rooms playing different types of music—like the pop room and the alternative/indie room, and then the true rock/grunge room! We feel like Talkie Talkie is like a club, where everyone is welcome, and there are all these different rooms and there is something for everyone. You can take your own journey through and encounter different sounds and vibes along the way!
’80s/’90s soap operas
Serra: Namely The Young and the Restless. The aesthetic during these golden eras is simply unmatched. Nostalgia is always a big theme in our music, and I feel it so much whenever I watch clips of old episodes. It was a big inspo for our track “Tango & Twirl.” It’s all about emulating those feelings of sadness for a time past, but wrapped up in euphoria at the same time.
Walking in London
Agustina Ruiz: Walking around London, getting places and spaces to flood your imagination—different lights, different streets, different lights coming from flats at night time, things that happened in the past in the same spot you are right now. Daydreaming about life in London before we were born. They’re all an inspo and bring nostalgia to us.
Cooking!
Serra: It’s not about one dish itself, but rather the act of cooking. I’ve had so many moments in my kitchen where a riff or a song concept has just popped into my head and I've had to leave and get it down, before returning to continue my meal. Cooking is somewhere where I feel really free and clear—it’s totally a form of therapy for me. Having those moments has allowed me to feel inspired and excited about making new songs, and you know if it’s a good riff if you can still remember it by the time you make it back to your workstation to record it.
