Mata-Ratos
| Mata-Ratos | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Lisbon (Portugal) |
| Genre (s) | punk |
| founding | 1982 |
| Founding members | |
singing |
Jorge "Morte Lenta" Leal (1982–1984) |
guitar |
Pedro Coelho |
bass |
Pinela (1982-1988) |
Drums |
Jorge "Jó" Cristina |
Mata-Ratos is an Oi! / Punk band from Lisbon .
history
The band Mata-Ratos (English: "Mice Murderers") was founded in 1982 in Portugal , in Oeiras near Lisbon. They were part of a wave of new punk bands (including Crise Total , Kú-de-Judas, Grito Final) that emerged after the rock português boom in the early 80s. They played concerts increasingly often, mostly in the greater Lisbon area . In 1984 Miguel Newton, a descendant of immigrant English Jews, joined the band as a singer, while guitarist Pedro Coelho remained the only founding member of the Mata-Ratos. They subsequently developed a style that was more influenced by Oi! And released their first demo cassette in 1985 ( Manifesto de Combate , dtsch: 'Manifesto of Combat'). Their concerts, especially at Rock Rendez-Vous , have been mentioned by the national music press in addition to the fanzines .
After they were voted second by the audience after a polemical concert at one of the regular competitions at Rock Rendez-Vous, which are accompanied by music journalists, and after they had sold their second demo Mata-Ratos over 700 times over the counter, the EMI / Valentim de Carvalho signed the band. In 1990 the debut album Rock Radioactivo was released . A video that was produced for the single A Minha Sogra é um Boi ('My mother-in-law is an ox') received u. a. Because of his perceived as shocking scenes (inter alia, sexual intercourse and violence are hinted at) after its first broadcast, it was banned from broadcasting on both channels of the country's only television company at the time, the state RTP . The coverage and discussion of censorship 16 years after the Carnation Revolution raised the band's profile, along with their unusually crude lyrics and harsh sound. The sales of the album increased sharply in this context, and it briefly reached the 5th place in the sales charts.
The increasing differences with her record company subsequently led to her contract being canceled. Their audience consisted to a considerable extent of skinheads , which partly as a result of the negative one-sided press about skinheads in the rest of Europe, but partly also because of the first racist attacks by right-wing radical skinheads in the country, ensured an increasingly controversial reputation of the band. Above all, singer Newton, with his clear skinhead haircut and outfit , created an image of the band that was perceived as evil with rough and roaring singing and his non-conformist manner. The band also hardly commented on the allegations and occasionally flirted with the suspicions, for example with announcements or puns for their titles. Scene-goers noticed the singer's clear t-shirt motifs, such as the t-shirts of the clearly anti-fascist bands Ludwig Von 88 or Killing Joke , which he often wore , but the general rumors about right-wing concert audiences increased. There have been isolated cases of violent incidents involving right-wing visitors to concerts by Mata-Ratos. In the course of the further radicalization of the right-wing radical skinhead scene in Portugal, no closer involvement of the band with it was known, neither from band members nor through concerts with right-wing bands or the like. With the increase in the apolitical to anti-fascist skinhead scene in Europe and its increasing activities, it also increased the international exchange between skinheads increases. For example, the EP Xu-pá-ki ( onomatopoeic , German: 'Lutsche hier') , which was released in 1993 by an independent label in Portugal, was re-released in Germany in 1995, and you contributed to various compilations and the like. a. in Brazil and the USA. Her 1995 tour through Germany, together with the Brazilian Oi band Garotos Podres , brought her together with other bands, such as Oxymoron or Braindance , and the Ska- influenced songs in her repertoire increased. The suspicions regarding right-wing involvement of the band continued to decrease as a result.
In 1999 they recorded Sente o Ódio ('Feel the Hate'), an album increasingly influenced by New York Hardcore . Pedro Coelho was the last founding member to leave the band in the same year. Singer Miguel Newton has remained a constant in the numerous personnel changes since his entry in 1984. Mata-Ratos recorded her other albums for the Portuguese punk & HC label Ataque Sonoro and the punk & alternative label Rastilho Records. They also played at larger festivals (e.g. with The Exploited , Ratos de Porão , NOFX and others), but they are best known for their more intimate appearances in small concert venues, bars or club houses. After the Xutos & Pontapés can no longer be seen as a punk band of the subculture since 1988, Mata-Ratos is now the longest-serving punk band in Portugal.
Music style and lyrics
The music can be assigned to the Oi! And Punk styles, in the course of the band's development influences from Ska and especially Hardcore were added. Occasional, sometimes ironic influences from completely different musical styles and allusions to folklore can also be heard selectively. The texts are all in Portuguese and are directed, partly in an aggressive, partly hedonistic and cheerful tone, against grievances and moral concepts of bourgeois society. They deal, for example, with prejudices against immigrants and the problems of emigrants, or describe cultural decline and arbitrariness, but also human weaknesses. They alternate between openly critical and cynical, between humorous and hateful. Many of her texts are characterized by a seemingly nihilistic zest for life, which is characterized by resistance, alcohol, and the deliberate demarcation from main cultures and subcultures. In general, a consistently pessimistic image of man determines the band's lyrics.
reception
The popularity of Mata-Ratos in the alternative scene in Portugal is due to the long history of the band and their consistent lack of conformity, but also in their rough manners and their critical, sometimes provocative attitude towards all social groups. Only in later years did they manage to respond more factually and calmly to allegations from the press and the music scene, which they associated with right-wing radicalism, for example. In spite of their continued inclination to provoke, they have now openly taken a stand against right-wing radicalism, including retrospectively. In addition to the reply, which they always uttered, that it is first up to the audience to confront agitating neo-Nazis at concerts, in later interviews they also explicitly refused to accept discriminatory positions. Despite their rejection of primarily radical political positions, they continued to emphasize their apolitical status as a band , for example if they are not afraid of contact with both left-wing bands (e.g. in the Poison Idea tribute project Hangover Heartattack) and right-wing bands (e.g. with Ultima Thule on a US 7 " EP - Sampler).
Their clear sympathy for folk culture and their disrespectful use of national symbols and terms, with their constant criticism of society and politics, repeatedly brought them hostility from all sides, but also ensured a common base for their fans in the country in the long term. Her concerts in small towns and her consistent departure from the country's established music business also cemented her reputation as an idiosyncratic and independent band. Outside the country, however, despite numerous concerts and publications, they were able to a. in France, Spain and Germany, do not generate a larger fan base. The reasons are probably the Portuguese lyrics and the songs that are not always typical of the scene. So in Portugal they are a band with a loyal following in circles of punks, skins and hardcore fans, but also among parts of heavy metal fans, alternative rock listeners and others, while internationally they are primarily for their Oi! -affine sound carriers are known to record collectors in the scene, but also to those who have a particular interest in proven bands with roots in the 1980s, or are interested in the Oi! & Punk scenes in the less central countries.
Discography
- 1990: Rock Radioactivo ( EMI )
- 1995: Estás Aqui, Estás Ali ... (Drunk Records)
- 1997: Xu-Pá-Ki ( compilation , Drunk Records)
- 1999: Sente o Ódio (Alarm! Records)
- 2002: Lisbonne vs. Paris ( Split album with Urban Crew, Bords De Seine)
- 2004: és um Homem ou és um Rato? (Ataque Sonoro)
- 2005: Festa Tribal (Live-Album, Rastilho Records)
- 2007: Novos Hinos para a Mocidade Portuguesa (Rastilho Records)
- 2016: Banda Sonora Do Apocalipse Anunciado (Rastilho Records)
Web links
- Mata-Ratos on Facebook
- Mata-Ratos at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interview in the fanzine SOS-Bote No. 28, March 1995
- ↑ Printed newspaper tears in the booklet of the Xu-Pá-ki / Suck This -Best-Of-CD, 1997.
- ^ Salwa Castelo-Branco: Enciclopédia da música em Portugal no século XX , 1st edition, Temas e Debates, Lisbon 2010, pp. 754f.
- ↑ Interview in Underworld magazine, January 2005 issue
- ^ Salwa Castelo-Branco: Enciclopédia da música em Portugal no século XX , 1st edition, Temas e Debates, Lisbon 2010, page 755.
- ↑ Interview in Underworld magazine, February 1999 issue
- ↑ Interview in Fanzine Over 12 , No. 6 (1996).
- ↑ http://www.punkoiuk.co.uk/interviews/matorat.htm
- ↑ Interview in the fanzine SOS-Bote No. 28, March 1995
- ↑ Interview in Underworld magazine, January 2005 issue