{"id":3022,"date":"2015-01-19T19:43:03","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T19:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.menteargentina.com\/blog\/?p=3022"},"modified":"2026-10-08T15:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T15:37:17","slug":"song-of-the-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.menteargentina.com\/blog\/song-of-the-week-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Violadores: An Introduction to Argentine Punk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Violadores are a key reference for exploring punk in Argentina. Their music opens a different door into Buenos Aires culture from tango or the singer-songwriter tradition: direct vocals, electric guitars and a confrontational approach to social and political life.<\/p>\n

Start with the sound, then add the historical context. Understanding when a recording was made is especially useful for a band whose work is closely connected with questions of authority and dissent.<\/p>\n

Why Los Violadores matter in Argentine punk<\/h2>\n

The Museo Hist\u00f3rico Nacional identifies drummer Sergio Gram\u00e1tica, a member of Los Violadores, among the founders of punk in Argentina. The museum also includes the band’s self-titled 1983 record in its account of rock’s visual culture.<\/p>\n

Those references place the group within an Argentine history of the genre. International punk influences are part of the picture, but they do not replace the local circumstances in which the band worked.<\/p>\n\n\"Los<\/a>\n\n

Music, politics and historical context<\/h2>\n

The museum’s Rock y Pol\u00edtica exhibition material<\/a> discusses Los Violadores alongside other artists who challenged the dictatorship. It offers a useful starting point for connecting the music with the political conditions of the period.<\/p>\n

When exploring the catalog, distinguish recording dates, release dates and later performances. A video uploaded recently may feature an older recording, and a song’s historical significance cannot be established from its upload date.<\/p>\n

Listen to \u201c1, 2, Ultraviolento\u201d<\/h2>\n

The original article featured this recording. Listen first for the energy of the performance and the rhythm of the vocal phrases. You can return to the language after becoming familiar with the sound.<\/p>\n\n