An eclectic Argentinian rock band, who take their name from the combination of the words "Baba" and "Sónicos" which pay tribute to the Satya Sai Baba and to the 70's cartoon The Jetsons, whose name in spanish was literally translated as "Los Supersónicos".
Babasónicos have been around since 1992 and have an impressive musical catalogue with seven major releases, and several eps, remix albums and rarities. They are the most succesful of all the bands that came in the "Movida Sónica" a movement bands that appeared in South America (notably Argentina and Chile) influenced by Soda Stereo and their album Dynamo and who were also influenced by the works of the Madchester movement (Stone Roses, Happy Mondays) and Shoegazers (notably My Bloody Valentine). In the beginning Babasónicos had another influence, that was surprisingly, the N.W.A.!
They were one of the first rock bands who had a Dj as a permanent member, but their sound is nothing like any band with a dj that you've heard, they had the ability to never repeat any formulas, so don't expect a generic rock band with a dj, cause they're not generic at all the use of that word related to them is likely an insult.
Throughout their career they have been able to keep full control of their artistic production (write their own songs, produce their own albums and even star and direct their own videos), yet have released most of their albums through major labels. And yes it's a known fact that they like to make B Movie's videos about Vixens. Their latest graphic interests seem to be 80's decadence and water sports. And yes, it could also be mentioned that they are wizards when it comes to make naive and provocative statements, their latest videos prove that they're getting better at it.
Their videos and musical production have been influenced by the movies of Russ Meyers, bad mexican 80's films, Spaghetti Westerns and even wrote a tribute song to Tura Satana "Viva Satana". There are other tributes to other celebrities like the song Sharon Tate.
Throughout time they've evolved and have experimented with every type of music cliché in the book, from Hip Hop, Punk, Dance, Lounge, Black Sabbath influenced sounds, Spaghetti westerns, Country, Disco and even Folkloric sounds. Their music and lyrics feature references to decadence and bad taste, however their excellent skills as musicians have been crucial to make them a cult band (and subject of this writeup at all), cause every album, as eclectic as it may sound, they manage to make it work!. It's their own stylistic choice to make art using a kitsch perspective though, that's extremely rare for a Latin American rock band that makes an art statment at all, since bad taste and poor musical background seem to be requisites to make rock music in Latin America.
Babasónicos along with other excellent bands like Café Tacuba and others have to their credit the fact that to this day they've been able to maintain certain quality stardards to their work and not sell out, which also seems to be a requisite for other rock bands or bands that used to rock (take that La Ley!). It's also important to mention that ever since their second album they've worked with Andrew Weiss, who's also producer for Ween, a band that's extremely similar in style, they've also been compared to Beck and it's a pretty good comparison.
Members: Adrían Rodríguez (vocals), Diego Castellano (drums), Mariano Domínguez (lead guitar and sometimes vocals), Diego Tuñón (keyboards and sequences), Gabriel Manelli (bass) and Diego Rodríguez (guitar). The band used to feature a Dj, Peggyn but he left the band, after Miami (1999), he's missed mostly in live shows, but the truth remains that no matter what they are a kick ass band.
Discography:
Pasto (1992)
Trance Zomba (1994)
Dopádromo (1997)
Babasónica (1998)
Miami (1999)
Jessico (2001)
Infame (2003)
Check out their website http://www.babasonicos.com