Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by DJ Sharlese, host of Mechanical Breakdown and rotating host for Expansions, in honor of World Goth Day Extended, is "¿Cuánto resiste el cuerpo?" by Balvanera, from the 2021 album Courses of Action on DKA Records.
This week's Song of the Day were selected by KEXP DJ Sharlese, in honor of World Goth Day Extended. On Tuesday, August 17th, KEXP celebrated the darker side of summer as DJ’s play goth favorites, old and new, from around the world. Re-listen to the day in KEXP's Two-Week Streaming Archive.
Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the duo of Balvanera bring an EBM aesthetic to their dark electronic music. Vocalist Agustina and multi-instrumentalist Lucas both came from the DIY punk and hardcore scene before moving into electronics.
"For some reason, electronic music feels like a continuation of punk to me," Agustina explained in an interview with Brutal Resonance. "Like in the '80s a lot of ex punks and industrial musicians were drawn to raving. In that sense I feel there’s a lot of similarities in the communal experience, ethics, DIY, etc."
Their latest album, Courses of Action, draws from the political fury of punk. "It’s a record that invites you to action, to movement; to gain consciousness of one's acts," Lucas said of the title.
"We felt the record sounded and demanded 'action'," Agustina continued, "And since last year was so hard, time itself put everything in perspective, demanding also to make choices in our own personal lives."
