Los Saicos: the Peruvian band who invented punk
Where is the true spiritual home of punk? Some will first think of 1970s London, and others New York, conjuring up images of safety pins and sweaty, underground gigs. Between the two capitals, bands were rolling out a new kind of sound, laced with grit and anger that positioned itself against conformity. But even earlier than the advent of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, Los Saicos were stoking that sound in Peru, beating punks’ most prolific outfits by at least a decade.
“The global punk movement was born here,” reads a marble plaque in the district where their proto-punk sound was formed. “Demolish!”
In the early ’60s, the radio-friendly tunes from Elvis Presley and the Beatles had inspired the band to try their hand at rock and roll. From the off-set, their DIY spirit aligned itself closely with punk – guitarist Rolan ‘El Chino’ Carpio made his own guitar, and bassist César ‘Papi’ Castrillón had to be taught how to play the bass by the rest of the band. The fierce rumble of their sound made up for the lack of technical finesse, roughshod and bursting with energy, a brilliant blend of ’60s surf and punk rock.
By ’65, they’d accrued a decent fanbase after playing local venues. The DisPerú label took notice, and soon, singles ‘Ana’ and ‘Come On’ were released, both odes to love and power. Their lyrics could be profound and absurd in equal turn, and their biggest hit, ‘Demolición’, was about blowing up a train station, revelling in anarchy with their fuzzed-out guitars and cries of: “Echemos abajo la estación del tren!” (“Let’s tear down the train station!”).
When they were first testing out their more raucous material – including songs about fugitives from Alcatraz and killing cats – their small audience just sat, silence ringing out awkwardly after the onslaught of sound they delivered. After a few seconds, they collected themselves and burst into enthusiastic applause. The Peruvian police were less enthused, having arrested them for staging a photo shoot to promote ‘Demolición’ that involved dragging an assortment of axes, sledgehammers and fake explosives to a train station.
But in true punk tradition, the band had an electric few years of fame, dined out on it by releasing music and hosting a TV show for a bit, then disbanded. However, retrospective looks at their music recognised how radical their sound was, only a few decades too late.
‘Demolición’ became an even bigger hit, with drummer Pancho Guervara telling the Guardian how “cool” it was to have been adopted by all kinds of music fans years after its release. “I heard a report from Mexico that the bosses of drug cartels drive into town in trucks with speakers playing it at full volume.”
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