Los Pirañas are a supergroup of Colombian rock ’n’ rollers who do tripped-out takes on Latine party music—they celebrate their vast musical heritage not as a cultural artifact but as a breathing and constantly evolving organism. At the trio’s heart is Edris Álvarez, a composer and guitarist best known as founder and bandleader of the Meridian Brothers, a long-running project that takes roots music into avant-garde territory. In Los Pirañas, he’s joined by some old high school classmates: drummer Pedro Ojeda, who also performs with Álvarez in playful tropicalia group Romperayo, and bassist Mario Galeano Toro, founder of lauded cumbia band Frente Cumbiero.
When their powers combine, the trio find frisky ways to draw through lines between psychedelic rock and traditional Indigenous and Afro-Colombian genres such as vallenato and champeta, creating a punked-out tapestry of sounds that zigzag through their homeland. My favorite Los Pirañas album is 2019’s Historia Natural, which situates their sprawling repertoire in an atmosphere of heavy riffs and gauzy distortion that feels controlled by some kind of Dada genius—it’s sophisticated and goofy in a way that distinguishes great rock records from good ones. But their brand-new Una Oportunidad Más de Triunfar en la Vida is also a banger, leaning into a free-jazz spirit of improvisation. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but its tracks build toward scorching freak riffs and delightfully off-kilter moments, and by the end of the record they’re coming harder and faster. Los Pirañas are bringing that freewheeling, barn-burner attitude to the Empty Bottle, so grab a ticket if you think you can stand the heat.
Los Pirañas La Rosa Noir and Future Rootz open. Wed 4/9, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $20, 21+