‘Monstruosas perversiones, son duras de masticar, Son funcionarios, estatal, seres inexplicables, duros de acabar’ (Contando Cucharachas En El Barrio) ‘Monstrous perversions, they’re hard to chew, Bureaucrats, state officials, inexplicable things, hard to finish off’ (Counting Cockroaches In The Neighbourhood)

Pura Manía are back with their second album, La Banda Es La Ley (The Gang Is The Law), and follow up to their 2024 7-inch, Extraños Casos De La Vida Real (Strange Real-Life Cases).  The band currently span Canada and Mexico, and since their 2014 debut EP, they have been pioneers in a sound that has taken deep root in contemporary hardcore punk.  It is a raucous fusion of dark post-punk melodicism and raw anthemic street punk, with, in their case, a further healthy dash of Iberian punk verve.

As you dive into proceedings, the first thing that strikes you is the sheer immediacy.  Each song brims with an infectious central guitar melody that the rabidly exuberant Spanish vocals lock on to with an irresistible sing-along relish, contemplating the mess we’re in through a lens of B-movie grotesquerie.  Opener Operación Horror (Operation Horror) sets an absolutely rollicking tone that the likes of the uproarious El Planeta Gótico (Gothic Planet) and the fiercely impassioned Contando Cucharachas En El Barrio are only too happy to follow.

As you immerse yourself more fully though, you begin to understand the depth of the groundwork that is so adroitly laid to create these thrilling pay offs.  This, perhaps, reflects the fact that the band draw their four instrumental members from Vancouver post-punks Spectres, as evidenced in the fuzzed-out rhythm guitar, chiming melodies, and darkly chunky bass lines.  This pedigree enables the band to create a densely layered web of melodies and rhythms, yet one dedicated to delivering unashamedly baser pleasures.

La Banda Es La Ley skilfully intertwines street punk directness and post-punk precision in a manner that feels utterly organic.  The world as a whole may not be in a place to inspire good cheer at the moment, but this is an album guaranteed to bring a smile to your lips and a spring to your step.