LAS RUBIAS DEL NORTE was started seven years ago, when Allyssa Lamb and Emily Hurst decided to quit their classical choir and start a group of their own. The group’s sound quickly veered off its classical course, incorporating Boleros, Peruvian waltzes, Andean huaynos and Cuban Guajiras. The result plays like a dreamy soundtrack with classical harmonies set to a Latin beat. Their two first albums, Panamericana and Rumba Internationale, were praised by the New Yorker, NPR’s Weekend Edition and A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts.

With their third album, Ziguala Las Rubias del Norte expand their horizon even further and asked themselves: what would the world sound like if rock 'n' roll had never happened?

From the 1930's through the 1950's, Latin music dominated popular music around the world. Mambos and rumbas found their way in the pop hits of Shanghai, Bollywood, Constantinople, Malaysia, France and Japan. Then came Rock and Roll which would conquer the youth of the world - and nothing was ever the same.
Las Rubias del Norte's third album, Ziguala, is an attempt to imagine what a pop record would sound like had the Latin influence continued its course without interruption. The album uses electric instruments that defined the rock explosion of the 1960's - such as organs and electric guitars but its arrangements reveal a definite bias for the Latin music it is mostly inspired by.
Las Rubias del Norte is a seven piece combo which is fronted by two classically trained singers and backed by bongos, congas, bells, bass, cuatro, electric guitar, piano and organ. On the album, the band also makes use of a string quartet, vibes and marimba. The tracks are re-interpretations of songs from Spain, France, Peru, India, Mexico, Greece, Venezuela, Colombia and Naples.
Ziguala is not so much a latin record as it is a pop record that uses a latin vocabulary. Think of it as the opposite of Rock en Español; a Latin genre which uses a rock vocabulary.

IDEYA - Sept 27th. 8pm. BARBES - Oct 15th 10:00pm