Madrid, Spain · indie rock · punk

Carolina Durante

1 festival played →

Madrid four-piece who made scrappy, funny, Spanish-language guitar punk a genuinely mainstream proposition at home — headliner status built on total irreverence.

Carolina Durante formed in Madrid in 2017, with Diego Ibáñez joined by Martín Vallhonrat, Juan Pedrayes and Mario del Valle. The band's name comes from a real teenage romance of del Valle's; the woman in question, also a school classmate of Ibáñez's, now works as a journalist. They signed with the label Sonido Muchacho and released their debut EP, Necromántico, in December 2017, drawing early critical notice.

The single "Cayetano" followed in 2018 and caused a stir for naming Spain's main political parties outright. It won the band a Premio MIN for Song of the Year and another for Best New Artist, establishing the deadpan, provocative tone that would define their early records.

A collaboration with Amaia, "Perdona (Ahora Sí Que Sí)", a cover of a Marcelo Criminal song, released in late 2018, brought them to a much wider national audience, even though it departed from their usual guitar-driven sound.

Their self-titled debut album arrived in April 2019, launched with secret shows in four Spanish cities. It reached number two on the PROMUSICAE chart, stayed on the listings for 25 weeks, and was named the best Spanish album of the year by several outlets. That year the band played more concerts than any other Spanish act.

Touring took them beyond Spain to London and Berlin, and in late 2019 they performed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Madrid, a rare non-musical booking for a guitar band. The run continued into early 2020 before the pandemic brought it to a halt in March.

Read more

indie rockpunk