Atom Rhumba have made it! The "most promising band" label with which so many media have tagged the Basque band, picturing them as "one of the best bands in Spain" ever since the times of  Hormonal Riot (1997)- all of that is obsolete with this album. Atom Rhumba are not "promising" anymore. They are the raw, palpitating and infectious reality. Backbone Ritmo is the proof that they have overcome any label or influence recognised before (JSBX, Gories, Contortions...), and have got down to what they best do: the infectious, pure Rythm of the best rock and roll.

That "promising band" label has been long following them: in ‘97 they came out triumphant from the Villa de Bilbao -the most prestigious band contest made in Spain. Dirt Shots (1999) followed and they begun touring endlessly and getting recognition from every media. 2001's Chasin' the Onagro, produced by Mick Collins, got up in every "album of the year" top-ten, critics hailed them and touring wasn’t limited to Spain -France also surrendered. So it was time to move forward and live up to the expectations created. Hundreds of incendiary shows have paid a reward: they play better and they write songs like few can write. And so they've finally recorded what fans and media alike were long asking: the best rock album to appear in Spain in many, many years, a record that can look over the shoulder to any international release. Now, we are talking about a band with few competitors anywhere.

Backbone Ritmo has been produced by well-known Kaki Arkarazo and, as usual in them, it’s played alive, first-second take, the way true raw rock albums are done. Which is not an obstacle for the variety and risk the album exhudes: Kaki has managed to get an amazing sound, full of groove but rich in angles and nuances. The opening trio will make you surrender to the anfethaminic enthusiasm that the album exhales, breaking any other attempt they ever made. And in just 5 songs, Atom Rhumba prove that any expectations were, if anything, way too cautious. The B side is richer in experimentation, dangling in the craks of diverse music genres (country, soul, garage). Way beyond any etiquette.

“Backbone Ritmo” was not only the record that got Atom Rhumba to their musical highest point to date, it also got them far away: from any Spanish village and city in an extensive tour, to France and Japan, where critics and listeners were enthusiastic about the basque band.

Was it possible to go one step beyond? This answer will have to hold until the band’s next album is done. But what you are going to realize about, listening to “Concrete Mixer”, is that the 10 songs of that album were far too good to let them lay still.

And so, from Javi Pez to Kaki Arkarazo (the producer of “Backbone Ritmo”), from Josetxo (Los Bichos) and Murky (Grimorio, Patrullero Mancuso) to Manta Ray; some reputed characters from the Basque and Spanish music scene have commited to the difficult but joyful task of giving a new flavour to THE WHOLE “Backbone Ritmo” album. The results will have to be judged by the listener -variety is the key here-, but it is proven here that these 10 songs have a lot to offer. And it goes to the band’s credit that they have the will to dare, experiment, and try, letting others play with their songs -making them richer, dismantling and reconstructing them, in this melting pot called “Concrete Mixer”. With exclusive cover by the great Olaf Ladousse.

Now more than ever before, Dance to the Backbone Ritmo!

A spicy tidbit for fans... Or a new dimension to the sound of the best Basque band.

Celebrating the release of their amazing fourth LP “Backbone Ritmo”, Munster releases in CD and vinyl this “Gone” single, a song which represents rather perfectly the spirit and indeed the name itself of “Backbone Ritmo”: as Rober! (guitar and vocals) himself says, “a song to dance with, twisting, contorting. throwing your bones out of their joints”. And if the original song is like this, wait ‘til you hear the remixes!!

It’s a simple story, according to Rober!: “We picked them up to do the work do to the admiration and mutual respect. We like their work and they like ours”. And so, Guillermo Piccolini (ex Pachuco Cadaver, now in Venus) and Josetxo Anitua (Cancer Moon) started working in their remixes. With a hit like that in their hands, it was difficult that the result was any bad. But both of them give the song a new edge with a personal sound, much more danceable, two perfect items to confuse the rock guys, who will not understand this so easily. But boy, Atom Rhumba love risk! In any case, Josetxo gives a key: “I’ve done a remix with respect to the original song, making it more danceable, it’s a rock remix to dance with”.

So to sum up, “Gone” is an interesting, daring and -most important- enjoyable experiment that breaks with the orthodox creed of what a rock band must and must-not be, and which proofs that Atom Rhumba are interested in two things above everything: dance and rythm!!