Los Violadores (Spanish: ''The Rapists'') is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band which pioneered the genre in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

History

Los Violadores ("The Violators", referring to 'breaking the law', as mentioned in one of their songs, "Violadores de la Ley") was founded in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in 1981 by guitarist Hari "B" (born Pedro Braun). The rest of the band included Stuka (bass), Pil Trafa (vocals) and Sergio Gramatika (drums). In their first years, sometimes they had to perform under the name of ''Los Voladores'' ("The Flying Ones") because the censorship of the

military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...

did not allow the original name of "Los Violadores". After a while, Hari left the band and Stuka took his place at the guitar, with El Polaco taking on the bass; the latter was presumably a relative or an acquaintance of Hari B's. (''El Polaco'' is Spanish for "the Pole". Hari was of Polish descent). Their first hit was the song ''Represión'' ("Repression"), included on their first LP ''Los Violadores'' (1983), issued by the small label Umbral, and produced by

Riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

drummer Michel Peyronel. In 1985 the band released a second album entitled ''Y ahora qué pasa, eh?'', including the song " Uno, dos, ultraviolento", a new hit which granted them considerable radio airplay. By 1985 some tension began to grow within the band, caused by differences about the musical style between Pil Trafa and Stuka. Stuka wanted to incorporate some

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

and gothic rock influences, favouring the sounds of acts such as

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

and U2 (which finally materialized in their 1986 album ''Fuera de sektor''). Singer Pil Trafa, on the other hand, wanted a more straightforward punk and heavier sound (evidenced in the 1987 album ''Mercado indio''). After some more albums released by CBS/Sony, such as ''Y que Dios nos perdone'' (1989) and ''Otro festival de la exageración'' (1991), they embarked on their farewell tour with young Argentine bands like

Attaque 77 Attaque 77 ("Attack 77"), sometimes stylized as A77aque, is an Argentine punk rock group. The band was formed in 1987 as a group of friends who got together to play their favorite songs, most of them by The Ramones, their favorite band and the o ...

and

2 Minutos 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 Singe ...

, ending in June of that year at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias in a gig with British punk legends

U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper (singer), Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's Rhythm and blues ...

. In late 1995 the band resumed its activity, they have reunited many times ever since, with different musicians, except singer Pil Trafa, who remained the only permanent member. With bassist "Polaco" Zelazek and Anel Paz substituting guitarist "Stuka", they recorded the album ''Otra patada en los huevos''("Another kick to the balls"), performing some comeback shows of the band at Cemento Discotheque, in December 1995. In 2000 Stuka rejoined the band but in 2003 left once again. Los Violadores have regained some popularity with their album ''Bajo un sol feliz'' (2006), and then participated in the festival ''30 años de Punk'', in 2009, with groups such as Cadena Perpetua and 2 Minutos, at Estadio Obras Sanitarias. That same year, the album ''Rey o reina'' was issued by means of Leader Music. Los Violadores disbanded in May 2011, with the split announced by frontman Pil Trafa. In 2015, Pil Trafa announced the reunion of the band once again, this time with the classic line-up, including Stuka, Gramatika, and "Polaco" Zelazek, recording the double live CD ''Luna Punk: Rompan todo''.

Discography

Studio albums

*1983 - ''Los Violadores'' *1985 - ''Y ahora qué pasa, eh?'' *1986 - ''Fuera de sektor'' *1987 - ''Mercado indio'' *1989 - ''Y que Dios nos perdone'' *1991 - ''Otro festival de la exageración'' *1996 - ''Otra patada en los huevos'' *2000 - ''Lo mejor de Los Violadores'' (re-recorded versions) *2006 - ''Bajo un sol feliz'' *2009 - ''Rey o reina''

Live albums

*1990 - ''En vivo y ruidoso'' *1996 - ''Histórico (La verdadera historia)'' 2 CD *2003 - ''En vivo y ruidoso II'' *2016 - ''Luna Punk: Rompan todo...''

EPs

*1986 - ''Uno, dos, ultravioladores'' *2004 - ''Y va... sangrando''

Compilation albums

*1992 - ''Grandes éxitos'' *2001 - ''Obras cumbres''

References

External links

Official website

Los Violadores
at rock.com.ar

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Violadores, Los Argentine punk rock groups Rock en español music groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Musical groups from Buenos Aires 1981 establishments in Argentina 2019 disestablishments in Argentina