As temperatures rose to the low 40s in Spain, the four Madrileñas chose the last day of July to release their jangly rendition of Clash favourite ‘Spanish Bombs’.
The song was first released four years after the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and reflects on similarities between the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and violence on the part of the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna Basque separatist movement in the 1970s and 80s.
Branded in the group’s vibrant new colours, Hinds have chosen to stay loyal to the original while layering on the fuzz typical of latest album The Prettiest Curse.
The band said: “The Clash were my mom’s forever favorite band… so it is always beautiful to connect generations through music.
“As Spaniards, we don’t usually get shout-outs in songs, like New York or London, so the Clash writing a song about our civil war made us feel honored. We recorded it during our last day in the studio, pretty much live, while recording our third album.”
‘Spanish Bombs’ was famously covered by Julieta Venegas-fronted Tijuana No! in 1998, and the slurred vocals of the 1979 version would prove a key influence in the development of The Libertines’ sound in the early 2000s.
Embellished with trills and Castellano a few steps removed from Joe Strummer’s less polished original, the track is a fun – but tidy – advertisement for the new face of Hinds.
Words by James Reynolds
@JimReynoldsUK
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