Panaderia’s one of like a gazillion projects by David Castillo, who, among other things, is probably best known for his Pizza Time project, which is sort of dead and sort of not. Panaderia is, more or less, the Pizza Time project shifted and slightly altered, and Buena Onda is the first release under the new banner.
If you liked Pizza Time, you’ll like this, and if you don’t know Pizza Time, I’ll kill two birds with one stone: simple, tight, “lo-fi” power pop songs usually sung in Spanish, occasionally in English. But don’t worry none about a language barrier whether you speak English, Spanish, or Korean for that matter: music is the universal language and it’s the sweetness of the vocals and memorable melodies that make this one great. In fact, I’d especially recommend this to listeners who are not bilingual: David’s lyrics here are simple enough that, if you’re a music fan, listening to this might be an ideal way to learn Spanish (this stuff’s been my early stage musical Rosetta Stone).
In the description on Bandcamp, Ben Katzman (BUFU Records, DeGreaser) called this “the Spanish DIY Rocket to Russia” and I’d say that’s an accurate description, at least of the A-side. The A-side is primarily focused on chord driven songs with melodies crafted by the blown out fuzz of the guitars (“Mas O Menos”, “Una”, “Del Corazon”), while the B-side is more experimental, with a synth piece featuring conversational vocals in the form of what sounds like a recorded call in “Amanecer”, with the most aggressive track, “Just Like Crimson and Clover” directly following it. I listen to the A-side more; I listen to the B-side more closely.
But in general, if you’re looking for something sweet, fuzzy, and in Spanish (like Los Encontraditos), feed yr ears something from the Panaderia.
Buena Onda:
Episode 1 of the Panaderia webseries (it’s kinda like musical, Spanish ATHF):
