| If in Peru, Los
Saicos are a razor-sharp black star of the subterranean
heavens, Los Holy’s are a blazing constellation.
They could be considered the first local psychedelia movement of
the mid-60s: they were capable of experimenting with compositions
and sounds beyond the New Wave beat melodies common at the time,
and all of this while remaining a basically instrumental band.
Friends from the Pueblo Libre school and neighborhood,
Los Holy’s were Marcos Goyzueta (lead guitar, fuzz-tremolo),
Arturo Matto (rhythm guitar), Oscar Sáenz (Hoffner bass),
Renzo Carozzi (Farfisa organ), and Walo Carrillo (drums). The made
their debut on the children's television programs "Locura del
Ritmo" (Rhythm Madness) and "Ritmolandia" (Rhythmland).
Realizing how innovative their sound was, the label Dinsa/Suceso
decided to release and produce the band's first hit, putting out
their first color vinyl single, Holys Psicodélicos / Luces
de Guinza (Psychedelic Holys / Lights of Guinza). It was simply
an enormous hit. What followed were avalanches of letters, phone
calls, their own fan club and an immense legion of followers that
allowed them to launch their first tours outside of the capital,
while they kept on doing “matinales” (junior concerts
in movie theaters before the first screening of the day) and TV
shows.
In the midst of such vivacity, the label Sono Radio,
under the production and orchestra arrangements of Enrique Lynch,
records the group's first LP: Sueño Sicodélico (Psychedelic
Dream), an ambitious and original album, and one of the earliest
and most perfect Latin American conceptual pop records. The names
of the songs function as guides that lead us to cosmic and mysterious
elements: "La perla sagrada" (the sacred pearl) or "Piedra
de doce angulos" (twelve-angled stone) for example, which is
about a unique stone crafted by Incan artisans. "Alto y Bajo"
(high and low); "Choque de vientos" (clash of winds) and
"Tormenta" (storm) bring the idea of basic chaos to our
minds, while "Spectro I", "Alunizaje" (moon
landing) and "Sueño Sicodélico" take us
to the limits of fantasy and illusion to later be brought back to
"Hombre Desnudo" (naked man). Conscious of having gone
far and beyond, they write on the back of the LP, "Los Holys
symbolize the restless and evolved heart of today's youth. Do we
know all of the sounds that are heard at the bottoms of the sea?
Space stations don't capture sound-waves produced at thousands of
light years? We will try to reproduce those sounds with our instruments
and maybe they'll end up being more pleasant than the crashing of
waves."
Meanwhile, the production of singles continues,
the inevitable covers of popular TV theme songs like "Hawaii
Five-0" or "The High Chaparral", even other truly
notable ones like, "Campo de vampiros" (field of vampires),
"Sueño psicodélico", "Tema del silencio"
(song of silence) or "Necio de mi corazon" (fool of my
heart), this last one includes the voice of Carmen Sáenz,
who sings with genuine melancholy and cool emotion.
Initially influenced by the Ventures, Les Baxter
and Duane Eddy, they soon situate themselves under the syncopated
funk influence of The Meters, Backyard Heavies or Lee Dorsey, curiously
all bands which originate from New Orleans. Later they turn towards
a kind of Latin-rooted psychedelia with prevailing guitar and organ
counterpoints, all supported atop an elaborate rhythmic base.
Times change, and repression from the police turns the entire scene
upside down. The band disintegrates. Later on, Walo will found additional
bands, touchstones of other facets of Peruvian rock: Telegraph Avenue
and Tarkus.
Taken from the extensive liner notes from Ricardo Garcia (Editor
of Sótano Beat fanzine from Lima, Peru)
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