Introducing Los Bitchos

Inside the fictional nightclub of Los Bitchos’ Talkie Talkie universe, people sip two-tone tequila sunrise cocktails and shimmy to an 80s-inspired soundtrack. “We’d imagined there’s something in there for everyone,” says guitarist Serra Petale animatedly over a video call from her London home. This loose party concept anchors the quartet’s glitterball-flecked second album, the intoxicating 12-track voyage Talkie Talkie, which surges forward with footloose surfy grooves that go on for days and draws from a genre-defying palette of classic disco, jazz and video game music.

The four-piece, comprising Perth-born Petale, Swedish bassist Josefine Jonsson, south London-born drummer Nic Crawshaw and Uruguayan keytar and synth player Agustina Ruiz, formed in 2017 and released their debut album, Let the Festivities Begin! – produced by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos – in 2022. The album’s success paved the way for a coveted slot at Glastonbury, where the group made their triumphant debut on the festival’s Park Stage in 2023, helping to launch their career, and confidence, into orbit.

Los Bitchos have since tightened up their playing, polished up their production and embraced an even more horizon-spanning sound for their second album, turning in a fortified collection of instrumental tunes you can dance to. While Let the Festivities Begin! was a love letter to cumbia and South America, this expansive new offering is driven more by a spirit of eclecticism. “Normally, as a band, you want to evolve and try some new things. And I think that’s just where the songwriting went,” says Petale.

Nostalgia is the connective tissue linking the band’s two releases, casting a vintage glow over their sun-drenched aesthetic. On Talkie Talkie, this assumed the guise of comic books and video games. “I play a lot of video games, and I love video game music,” explains Petale. “It’s somewhere I can really just leave where I currently am. And you can get so immersed in it. I have a huge appreciation for just gameplay in itself. It’s like a story.”

The album, produced by Oli Barton-Wood (Wet Leg, Nilüfer Yanya), constructs a maze of twists, turns and riffs that will leave you breathless and hungry for more. Bolstered by shoulder-padded basslines and a rainbow of glossy synths, ‘Talkie Talkie, Charlie Charlie’ could quite easily slot into a Grand Theft Auto soundtrack while Petale describes the Marvel-primed spy thriller ‘Kiki, You Complete Me’ as their “Batman moment … There’s even a jazz track on the album,” she adds.

They revisit cumbia on ‘1K!’, while ‘Open the Bunny, Wasting My Time’ keeps up the cinematic energy. Los Bitchos are clearly intent on pushing their sound forward, so, what’s next? “There are no rules. I think we’re hoping to make a Mötley Crüe-inspired track… We love hair metal,” hints Petale.

+ Los Bitchos begin a UK and European tour on October 19 at Future Days Festival in Birmingham

This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today