Hailing from Cajamarca in Peru and featuring a line up of YK (vocals), Kiara (guitar), Wen (bass) & Irma (drums), Las Ratapunks (https://www.facebook.com/ratapunks) released one of my favourite eps of last year. Titled Fracaso, año de la rata 2020, it featured 6 excellent punk tracks and was impressive enough to earn them worldwide acclaim. Not only did they feature on Just Some Punk Songs! (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2020/05/las-ratapunks-ministerio.html), they also had 4 of the tracks from the ep cherry picked for a vinyl release by Amok Records, Kibou Records and No Front Teeth Records https://kibourecords.bandcamp.com/album/fracaso-a-o-de-la-rata-2020
They're back on here today with a song from a brand new album titled Ishguin. This time around they treat us to 8 tracks and it's a worthy follow up to Fracasco. It kicks off in style with an aggressive track titled No Futuro (which pretty much sums up how many people see things at the moment "Chaos, violence, destruction, mass media, misinformation, political anxiety and depression. No, there is no future, there is only corruption.") It's a sub 60 second call for resistance ("there is no evolution without revolution") and it's a great way to start proceedings.
Things continue in a similar vein, passionate performances married to lyrics about fighting on behalf of the downtrodden, the wealth gap between the haves and the have nots, corruption in the police force, low wages, poverty and equality. It's a great release by a band with plenty to say and you can get it here : https://lasratapunks.bandcamp.com/album/ishguin-2
An highlight amongst many highlights, this is a song about resisting with hope. It's about dreaming of a better future. It's called Utopia...
