Infierno 18

Infierno 18 quickly gained recognition for attaining major success while still in their early teens, becoming the defining act in Argentine power pop. The story began in 1999 when preteen cousins Nicolas and Tomas Taranto started rehearsing a rock band inside their grandmother’s basement. As members rotated and the musicians experimented with various instruments, the project that had been using that space eventually adopted the name Infierno 18. The cousins increasingly favored rehearsals instead of video games, their original material developed steadily, and the group locked into the punk-core style that later endeared them to fans.

A self-produced demo containing several original tracks appeared in 2001. Industry veteran León Gieco received a copy and asked the band to appear at his 50th birthday celebration at the Roxy in Buenos Aires. Although Infierno 18 had been scheduled for only two numbers, the crowd of music-business insiders responded so enthusiastically that the set expanded to a full performance. Additional collaborations with Gieco followed, placing the group on bills with many of Argentina’s rising acts. Their first album, Malos Aires, arrived in 2002. Festival bookings multiplied, and the band shared stages with Massacre, A.N.I.M.A.L., Charlie Brown Jr., and similar artists. Coastal tours alongside Kapanga supplied fresh perspectives that shaped the 2004 follow-up, Efecto Secundario. Consistent live work and radio airplay lifted Infierno 18 to the forefront of the power pop-punk scene; seven years after forming, they were supporting Simple Plan in front of sold-out crowds. The 2007 album Estas Lista Para Esto? maintained strong rotation across Latin American stations, dispelling any notion that the band’s appeal would prove fleeting.