Linda Guilala

Spanish indie pop outfit Linda Guilala has kept pushing its sound into fresh territory while sharpening a knack for melodies that linger alongside lyrics steeped in social anxiety, alienation, and self-doubt. Its debut album, Bucles Infinitos from 2009, drew from pop-punk energy and the electronic pop textures of the 1980s. Over time the arrangements grew thicker, more intense, and more expansive, culminating in the sweeping, 20-track Psiconáutica of 2016, which shifted between scorching noise-pop tracks and dreamy instrumental passages.

The group took its name from the giant creature in the Japanese film The X from Outer Space. Iván González and Eva M. López, both previously in the punk-leaning Juniper Moon, formed Linda Guilala in 2005 once that earlier band split. They quickly laid down several demos, a few of which later aired on Spain’s Radio 3 and the U.K.’s Radio Nowhere. Elefant Records issued the first full-length, Bucles Infinitos (Infinite Loops), in 2009. Two years afterward came the four-song EP Paranormal, whose tracks explored supernatural themes in a bright, melodic style.

Guitarist Bruno Mosquera came aboard for the 2014 EP Xeristar, steering the music toward a murkier, noisier edge without sacrificing its tuneful immediacy. The band’s boldest and most daring statement arrived with Psiconáutica in 2016. The following year saw the release of the remix collection Linda Guilala Reworked by Apenino. Beginning with the 2018 single “Primavera Negra,” Mari Vázquez took over on guitar in place of Mosquera, and the group kept issuing singles through Elefant as well as Sonic Cathedral and Test Pattern Records. The 2020 compilation Espacio de Tiempo (2009-2019) gathered highlights from the band’s first decade.