La Polla Records, known by fans simply as La Polla, emerged from Álava, in el País Vasco (the Basque Country) right at the end of the 70’s. In a strictly punk sense, the group were to Spain what the Sex Pistols were to England.
The song No somos nada, their 1986 eponymous record's opening track, is a sort of manifesto for the group: 'so this is who are are'. And what is that? Well: somos los nietos de los obreros que nunca pudisteis matar. somos los nietos de los que perdieron la Guerra Civil. No somos nada. No somos nada.
This was scathing, take-no-prisoners protest music for Spain's fledgling democracy in the early 80's. The stuff that Evaristo, the band's lead singer, was saying in his lyrics - with subjects ranging from Spanish party politics to the Catholic church - was a bit too much for most people at the time to handle. Mainstream radio wouldn’t touch La Polla with a bargepole, so it enjoyed a truly cult status amongst fans. Which was, of course, part of the fun of it all.
Listen to the episode to learn more about La Polla Records, los cómics de Astérix el Galo, el rock radical vasco, the art of Spanish blasphemy (and bad language in general), and why in our language 'ser la polla' is a very desirable thing.
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