Los Pirañas
"Three pillars of Colombia’s new tropical scene let loose: Latin dance rhythms fed through fuzz, loops and freewheeling improvisation. Unpredictable, irreverent and gloriously danceable, it’s like nothing else."
Los Pirañas bring together three of the key figures behind the revival of Colombian music. Guitarist Eblis Álvarez leads Meridian Brothers, bassist Mario Galeano leads Frente Cumbiero and is part of Ondatrópica, and drummer Pedro Ojeda plays with Romperayo. Each is the main composer in his other bands. In Los Pirañas they throw the rulebook out.
The trio takes vallenato, Peruvian chicha, champeta and cumbia and runs them through a rock attitude, noisy improvisation and absurd musical humour. Galeano and Ojeda lay down shifting rhythmic foundations, while Álvarez piles unpredictable guitar and computer sounds on top.
Their latest album, Una Oportunidad Más de Triunfar en la Vida (“One more chance to succeed in life”), came out on Glitterbeat in March 2025. It was improvised live in Galeano’s Bogotá studio, with no overdubs and no studio tricks. It followed Historia Natural (Glitterbeat, 2019).
On stage they’re a force of nature. They’ve played to 10,000 people at Roskilde, as well as Best Kept Secret and Druga Godba, and toured across Europe, the Americas and beyond. They return to the UK this November.
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“Pushing Colombian music into new places… giving it a raw, punk energy”
Songlines
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“A perfect end of night party”
John Robb, Louder Than War