In review: Hinds takes madrid

By Lauren Smith

While living in Madrid, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Hinds perform a hometown show in front of their friends and family at Joy Eslava one fateful Thursday night in 2016. Having only listened to their album a handful of times, I was blown away by their endlessly cool and confident aura, sporting silky pinstripe men's shirts, styles of sneakers I didn’t even know existed, and overalls most likely snagged from one of the many thrift stores along the streets of Malasana, Madrid’s most trendy neighborhood. The second they enter the stage, they redefine your perception of cool.

​Hanging around their ex-boyfriends in the recording studio, they never thought to pick up a guitar themselves, given Spain’s somewhat “machismo” culture. Although the “garage-band” scene in Madrid was more alive than ever, there were few female artists, let alone bands in entirety until Hinds. Lead singer, Carlotta Cosials and lead guitarist, Ana Perrote, made their start covering Bob Dylan songs to learn guitar. They started performing small gigs and recorded their first two singles, “Bamboo” and “Trippy Gum”. By 2014, the four person chick rock band was receiving accolades from illustrious magazines and critics and playing shows and festivals throughout Europe. Their first album, “Leave Me Alone”, debuted at number 47 on the UK Albums Chart and began to raise awareness of their sound in the states.

​True to form, Carlotta walked on stage with a tallboy PBR and water in bright red bell bottoms for their performance on January 18th at the Old Rock House to a medium-sized, but avid group of fans. Their grungy style and endearing Spanish accent captured our hearts the entirety of the performance. Heads were bobbing and swaying to their endlessly catchy indie beach-rock sound. The adoring crowd also got a taste of “I Don’t Run”, their long-awaited sophomore album set for release August 6th. Over a cigarette after the show, Carlotta explained its soccer-themed social media campaign. “In these political times, we thought, What would be more Spanish than anything else? Soccer!”. Their “New For You” campaign shows the band and their close friends dancing around the soccer field. With their addicting personalities and sound, “I Don’t Run” is sure to be a smash success.

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