“We’re gonna have a big old fat party!” says Serra Petale, songwriter and guitarist of London-based quartet Los Bitchos, who kicked off a seven-date North American tour last night in DC and will be headlining our very own Underground Arts tonight, 9/23 (And Petale admits to being a big fan of the man for whom the neighborhood is named: “His work is so beautifully weird… I love his atmosphere… It’s just weird, like sometimes you’re like, ‘What the fuck is going on?’”) While the mostly instrumental sounds of Los Bitchos blend South American cumbia and Turkish psych rock, the band has found themselves a comfy home within the world of indie rock: they’re signed to City Slang, Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos produced their debut 7” and first LP, and they’ve toured as support for the likes of Mac DeMarco, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Belle & Sebastian, for whom they opened Franklin Music Hall in 2022, before joining the twee legends for their classic “Legal Man.”
Last month Los Bitchos released Talkie Talkie, their sophomore LP and second for City Slang, which follows 2022’s Let the Festivities Begin! “A lot of people think the second album can be a tricky one, but I don’t think we really felt that,” Serra Petale tells me during a phone chat last week from her London home. However, there’s one response the album’s been getting that she says she has been particularly excited about: “Mostly, I’ve been pretty stoked on people enjoying the production.” She goes on to explain, “Our influences are South American cumbia and Turkish psych, and, on the first record, we wanted to make sure we were doing those influences justice. For the second one, it’s just more polished. It’s not a good thing, not a bad thing, it’s just what happens.”
According to Serra, who originally hails from Western Australia, Los Bitchos’ sounds have attracted an eclectic array of fans, both in terms of style and age, which she very much appreciates: “I think our music appeals to quite a wide range of an audience… It’s so wonderful.” And she tells me that North American audiences have a special place in her heart: “The US is such a special place for us to come and play. The people are so lovely and polite. The kindness with the US fans is unreal.” While Los Bitchos have played a lot of high-profile (and high-capacity) gigs in America; including their dates with Belle & Sebastian, in addition to performances at Coachella, SXSW, and Levitation; they haven’t played a plethora of headlining dates on our side of the pond, so their current run will have them in some of the most intimate spaces that US fans have gotten a chance to see them, which Serra tells me she loves: “Oh my god, they’re my favorite, when there’s not much of a distance or barrier between the band and the audience, and the audience is mega close up! We want to make it that house party vibe!”
*Get your tickets here.
