2 Minutos or Dos Minutos are a punk rock band from Valentín Alsina, Buenos Aires, Argentina. They have released ten albums since first receiving a contract by Phonogram in 1994. The band have toured mostly around Latin America.

Biography

Singer Walter Velásquez first met bass player Aidnajan and guitarist Pedrozo at a Casanovas concert in 1987. The group they formed largely played the local circuit in the early 1990s. In 1992, the band participated in a collective album produced by an independent label called ''Mentes Abiertas'', with the songs ''"Ya No Sos Igual"'' and ''"Arrebato"''. It caught the attention of the local Polygram A&R men who would sign the band soon after. 1994 would be the studio album debut for 2 Minutos. ''Valentín Alsina'' was named in honor of their hometown, and it turned into a bigger hit than even the band or the label had expected on the back of the hit single "Ya no sos Igual" ("You're not the same anymore"), about a corner store clerk whom they found out was also a Federal Police officer.2 Minutos
Rock.com.ar (Spanish) A controversy erupted however between the band and "Pil Trafa", a member of Los Violadores, with Pil Trafa accusing 2 Minutos of having "un-punk" lyrics about

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, and

street fighting Street fighting is hand-to-hand combat in public places, between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g. a street) and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or occasionally even death. Some street fig ...

, which he considered those of bored, middle-class 1990s suburban kids. Nonetheless, 2 Minutos became a mid-1990s darling of the Argentine punk world, and they also gained large followings by simple word-of-mouth across

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

, specially after the release of their ''Valentín Alsina'' follow-up, ''Volvió la Alegría, Vieja!''. They also gained notoriety in the American

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

scene, to the point they became the 1st Argentine punk band to dedicate a tour of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1995. A highlight of that tour was their performance at the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

club, which they sold out. Back home, they shared the stage with

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United St ...

during their 1996 farewell tour. The third studio album was released in mid-1997. ''Postal 97'' featured the hit singles "Gatillo fácil", "Qué yeta", and "Recuerdos en la arena". International success lead Polygram to renew and improve the contract for the band that year. They kept issuing albums every year or two. With the mid-2000s seeing the band as now weathered veterans of the punk movement, 2 Minutos released the studio album ''Un Mundo de Sensaciones'', featuring the song "Aeropuerto" and including guest artists like Sebastián Teysera (

La Vela Puerca La Vela Puerca is a Uruguayan rock band formed in Montevideo, Uruguay, in December 1995. Its founders and current members are Sebastián Teysera (lead vocals, frontman and main songwriter), Sebastián Cebreiro (vocals, songwriter), Nicolás Lie ...

), and

Claudio O'Connor Claudio Alberto Castro, also known as Claudio O'Connor (born April 28, 1963 in Llavallol, Buenos Aires Province) is a thrash metal, groove metal and hard rock vocalist from Argentina. Nowadays he's lead singer of his own band O'Connor and Maló ...

. In 2010, they released the album ''Vamos a la granja/Directo al infierno'', which included covers of songs by

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

Sandro Sandro is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swiss, Georgian and Croatian given name, often a diminutive of Alessandro or Alexander. It is also a surname. Sandro may refer to: Given name or nickname Sports * Sandro (footballer, born 1973), Brazi ...

Joaquín Sabina Joaquín Ramón Martínez Sabina (born 12 February 1949) is a Spanish musician, singer, composer, and poet. His songs usually treat about love, heartbreaks and society with a large usage of literary figures similarly to the baroque-literature st ...

and

Daniel Melero Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

Discography

*''Valentín Alsina'', 1994 *''Volvió la alegría vieja'', 1995 *''Postal 97'', 1997 *''Advertencia'', 1998 *''Novedades'', 1999 *''Antorchas'', 2000 *''Vida Monótona'', 2002 *''Superocho'', 2004 *''Un Mundo de Sensaciones'', 2006 *''Vamos a la granja/Directo al infierno'', 2010 *''Valentin Alzheimer'', 2013

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Street punk groups Musical quintets Musical groups established in 1987 Argentine punk rock groups 1987 establishments in Argentina