Decima Victima

Description

Gatefold sleeve. Decima Victima were a Spanish band that, during their short-lived career between 1981 and 1984, developed a very personal sound reminiscent of Joy Division, The Cure and other British post-punk bands. Although commercial success evaded them, rarely has any Spanish band achieved such a high degree of quality and coherence in their music and personality. Despite only being active for under three years, Decima Victima left a long-lasting legacy, and their influence would later be heard in Spanish bands such as Family, Los Planetas and Sr Chinarro. In 1981, brothers Lars and Per Mertanen formed the instrumental band Clausula Tenebrosa. After a show they started talking about the possibility of rehearsing with Carlos, a friend at the time and ex-singer of the recently split Ejecutivos Agresivos. That's how the story of Decima Victima started, rehearsing with a drum machine in the cellar of the Mertanens' house in Madrid. A few months later they made their first studio recording, a demo recorded on a 4-track. And shortly after, with their friends from the band Esclarecidos, they started the independent label Grabaciones Accidentales (GASA), and were able to start releasing their own records. The first single came out in 1982, with Lars playing drums on it. Soon after, Los Esclarecidos introduced them to Jose Brena and he joined Decima Victima as drummer. The second single was also recorded in 1982. A few months later they went to Vigo for a week to try out their repertoire live, in order to see which tracks the audience liked best and choose 12 for the record. The studio sessions were no short of joy and experimentation. Paco Trinidad, the producer, understood what the band wanted and managed to achieve it technically. Despite commercial success evaded them, their first LP was acclaimed by the press, especially by El Pais, one of the biggest-selling newspapers in Spain. Unavailable for years and always in high demand, this is the first time their debut album gets an official reissue in its original single LP format. For this edition, the sound of the original tape recordings has been cleaned and improved and the artwork has been slightly modified following the band's original idea.