Biography
Las Kellies, an Argentine outfit, took cues from the unvarnished post-punk of 1970s bands including the Slits and the Raincoats when they arrived on the scene in 2007 with their debut full-length Sharking Dog!. A dancier approach shaped by new wave colored their 2009 follow-up Kalimera, while later works such as the 2013 fourth album Total Exposure incorporated the dub sensibility of collaborator Iván Diaz Mathé. The group wove these strands together on sixth album Suck This Tangerine, which Fire Records released in 2020.
Guitarist/singer Ceci Kelly (Cecilia Kelly), bassist/singer Betty Kelly (Julia Worley), and drummer/singer Sil Kelly (Silvina Costa) launched Las Kellies in Buenos Aires in 2005, building experience on the local circuit ahead of the independent release of Shaking Dog! two years later. Their next effort, the new wave-leaning Kalimera, also appeared independently in 2009.
International touring preceded a deal with Fire Records, which issued the band’s third album, the 2011 self-titled Las Kellies, mixed by dub legend Dennis Bovell. Deeper reggae currents defined 2013’s Total Exposure, produced by Iván Diaz Mathé, aka Ivy Lee of South American reggae group Nairobi Dub, with Bovell and Chain & the Gang’s Ian Svenonius contributing vocals.
Bassist Betty Kelly departed prior to the recording of 2016’s Friends & Lovers, leaving the remaining duo to enlist Mathé once more; the sessions yielded a leaner punk sound, after which Manuela Ducatenzeiler supported touring. Still operating as a duo, Ceci and Sil drew on earlier threads for Suck This Tangerine, which arrived via Fire Records in 2020 and included former member Julia Worley on the track “Close Talker.”
Guitarist/singer Ceci Kelly (Cecilia Kelly), bassist/singer Betty Kelly (Julia Worley), and drummer/singer Sil Kelly (Silvina Costa) launched Las Kellies in Buenos Aires in 2005, building experience on the local circuit ahead of the independent release of Shaking Dog! two years later. Their next effort, the new wave-leaning Kalimera, also appeared independently in 2009.
International touring preceded a deal with Fire Records, which issued the band’s third album, the 2011 self-titled Las Kellies, mixed by dub legend Dennis Bovell. Deeper reggae currents defined 2013’s Total Exposure, produced by Iván Diaz Mathé, aka Ivy Lee of South American reggae group Nairobi Dub, with Bovell and Chain & the Gang’s Ian Svenonius contributing vocals.
Bassist Betty Kelly departed prior to the recording of 2016’s Friends & Lovers, leaving the remaining duo to enlist Mathé once more; the sessions yielded a leaner punk sound, after which Manuela Ducatenzeiler supported touring. Still operating as a duo, Ceci and Sil drew on earlier threads for Suck This Tangerine, which arrived via Fire Records in 2020 and included former member Julia Worley on the track “Close Talker.”
Albums
Singles
