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Last year when we featured La Vida Boheme’s single “Radio Capital” we mentioned on the band’s potential to go from their garage to the music video channels, and well, it’s happening. The band has proven to be one of those rare commercially reliable bands that manage to sound both, fresh and accessible. They’re also the newest band to join the Nacional Records family, so we can’t wait for all our fellow US-based blogs to meet one of the most energetic rock bands in Latin America. We included their track “Danz!” in our seventh compilation and we’re glad they’ve chosen it as a single. It’s the first song we heard from them a while ago and we remember thinking to ourselves, “this is some nice Venezuelan Bloc Party stuff.” I’m especially thrilled about this video by director Carl Zitelmann, the opening audio sequence is amusing to say the least, and the fourth-point camera travelogue exercise is impressive.
- Club Fonograma
he trumpet solo intro to “Radio Capital,” the revving opener by Venezuela’s very best, La Vida Bohème on their new album Nuestra pretty much sums up the entire album. Nuestra is aggressively sensual, with a hint of that live band 50's vibe to it. When the band steps in with their Los Amigos Invisibles meets LCD Soundsystem lunacy, you can’t help but jump out your seat and dance all over the room. They’re too garage to be ska, too rhythmic to be experimental. But with Miguel Aguayo qualities on their quiet tracks and the wildest hoots of La Maldita Vecindad hidden in their Nirvana noise, this band combines cow bells with a jolt of electric guitar. Wait a minute, was that a clave I heard clacking in the background?
This vodka addicted band is going to be rich… someday. Until then, enjoy the the whistles on “EL Buen Slavaje” rivaling that other catchy ditty by those Swedes: Peter, Bjorn and John. This album redeems Nacional after that other terrible release, from those other alternative unfortunates, Jarabe de Palo. Meanwhile, on this hit album Nuestra, the alt-rock buildup on “Flamingo” produces incredibly arousing affects, nulling you like a first hit. Shout outs to Henry, Daniel, Sebastían and Rafael on a job well done. We tip our hats to you gentlemen. Nuestra by La Vida Bohème will turn you into a pre-pubescent little Mexican boy bouncing around your Section-8 apartment wishing you were at a rock show. Alternative never sounded so good. - Gozamos
La Vida Boheme is along with Elaine and TLX, one of the rising bands in Venezuela’s small but nutritious scene. Actually, in terms of commercial output, this is a band that could move from its garage straight to music video outlets. They’re starting to get attention quickly and that’s great, they’re everything Don Tetto isn’t: a good South American band. We can say they’re a young energetic punk-funk band in progress, you know, a lo Vicente Gayo or 60 Tigres. “Radio Capital” is the first cut from Nuestra, their soon to be released debut album. This is a nice restless tune that should serve them well as a first presentation, although they sound differentely than when we first heard them a couple of months ago, hope they don't loose their Rapture sound. - Club Fonograma
Along with help from Nacional, the Venezualan dance-punk four-piece La Vida Boheme’s debut LP, Nuestra, is being released in the U.S. on May 10. Formed more than three years ago, the group gained a massive following through its kinetic live shows before ever releasing a recording.
The Caracas-based band claims influences as diverse as LCD Soundsystem, the Clash and Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa. The overall sound created is a more energetic, Spanish-speaking Bloc Party. After the release of Nuestra, the group will bring its wild live show to the U.S. for the first time on July 6 for the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City. - CMJ
La Vida Boheme’s US debut LP Nuestra (or “our”) begins with “Radio Capital”, a fun, candy dance punk track with chant-singing and traces of Mexico’s Vicente Gayo and El Cuarto. But as it turns out, “Radio Capital” is the exception for this rising Venezuelan quartet — not the rule.
The tracks continue to broaden and deepen as the album rumbles along. “El Buen Salvaje” has a raw blues rock motif, likening them to a wall-of-sound White Stripes. By the fourth track, you’ve learned that lead singer Henry D’Arthenay has a beautiful voice, and that carefully-plotted vocal harmonies are more pervasive than you thought. Later, they show off some pretty, melodic indie rock know-how through the standard reverb/tom-tom equation, hurling their talent into the tiers of Phoenix, The Shout Out Louds, and Wolf Parade. Electronics make a few cameos, mostly on the anarchical instrumental self-titled track, which pits fuzz, glitch, and rock ‘n roll into a fiery battle.
So, while the upbeat, get on your feet The Gossip drumming never stops, this is more than just a dance punk album. It’s a crafty exploration of rock’s vast, dirty underbelly, and a statement on the complexity of their home city, Caracas. D’Artheny said it best:
“I think every song we made for Nuestra is due to the fact that Caracas, and its havoc, is now as much part of us as our blood. The feeling that you get when you get to Caracas is that of a fallen empire: beautiful buildings torn apart, immense highways full of holes, a million lights by night are in fact a million slums in daylight. Streets that are made for walking are more often used for hiding or running. But we still love our city tremendously. People in Caracas are beyond real. We might distrust our surroundings but we are warm at heart, you can tell that on any night out on the town.”
Caracas is certainly noticing, too. The band has garnered so much hometown support that the fanbase has its very own name: “La Resistance” – a not-too-subtle banner in the face of Hugo Chavez - Mtv Iggy
Discography
Untitled EP (Self Released, 2006)
Nuestra (Nacional Records, 2011)
Photos
Bio
La Vida Boheme is dance rock band, which formed on the fierce streets of Caracas, Venezuela, four years ago. Early in their career, the group won the most important "battle of the bands" local contest and began to plug themselves into the local dive bar circuit. A devoted following quickly formed as thousands of fans were coming out to shows to sing along to songs that weren't released or even recorded properly. Soon radio stations were calling the band demanding a single from a record that had not been finished. An underground swell of support was developing with the band's fan base calling itself "La Résistance".
In a matter of months La Vida Boheme achieved something Venezuelan rock bands have been unsuccessfully trying to do for the past 20 years: sold out every venue they played, got the #1 song of 2010 in the two most important nation-wide pop radio stations and collapsed the city due to an unexpected turn-out in a free show in a public square. As if all of this was not enough, the biggest Latin Alternative label in the United States, Nacional Records, signed them and started distributing their debut album in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In their first days of sales it peaked at #12 in the Latino Albums charts and #2 in the Rock Latino charts.
Recently the band has received nods from many important new media figures, such as Twitter.com, which featured the band in its 5th year anniversary video, next to personalities such as Snoop Dog, Hillary Clinton, Martha Stewart among many others...
La Vida Boheme's debut album "Nuestra", owes as much to influences like LCD Soundsystem and The Clash as it does to Mercedes Sosa and Mano Negra. It was produced by local guru Rudy Pagliuca and mastered by Argentine maestro Andrés Mayo. The band is set to support "Nuestra" with extensive touring across the U.S. in 2011.
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