Ground Control Touring

Los Bitchos are made up of lead guitarist Serra, who carries both Australian and Turkish heritage, Uruguayan synth and keytar player Agustina Ruiz, Swedish bassist Josefine Jonsson and British drummer Nic Crawshaw. Their live show has a contagious energy they’ve had no problem transmitting to the world: since the band officially arrived in 2019 with two sell-out 7” singles, they marked themselves as one of London’s brightest bands to watch. They found a home in beloved indie label City Slang, and released their debut album, Let The Festivities Begin!, produced by Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand) in 2022. ‘Festivities’ hallucinatory surf-exotica is as evocative as it is playful, with instrumental voyages that are the soundtrack to setting alight to a row of flaming sambucas and losing yourself to the night. Think panthers prowling through a desert, cowgirls swaggering into a saloon and kicking up dust, and riding shotgun with a Tarantino heroine.

Since then, they’ve ripped stages across the globe, with headline tours in UK, Europe, North America, and Australia, and played festivals such as Glastonbury and Coachella, as well as supporting King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Franz Ferdinand, Pavement, and Mac DeMarco.

True to character the band’s most recent LP, Talkie Talkie, released August 2024, opens with a warm invitation, shouted in unison: “Hi!” as an intoxicating bassline and jangly riff takes over. At the centre of Talkie Talkie is a vivid cinematic universe that takes inspiration from the band’s favourite aesthetic era: the 80s. The four-piece especially tapped into the sonic innovation happening during that period, where analog and digital techniques collided to create polished texture and depth.

Los Bitchos have no qualms dipping into the deep wells of inspiration at their disposal. In fact, it’s something of a calling card for the group, who not only draw influence from their own respective corners of the world, but are unwaveringly unapologetic in doing so.

“I love writing songs that people can interpret in different ways,” says Petale, also acknowledging their decision to be a purely instrumental band. “It’s about creating a place that lets people use their imaginations. To get lost in their own world.”