Las Nubes
There’s no way to hear Miami rock ’n’ roll trio Las Nubes and not hear their duality. Bilingual, new school with old-school feel, fuzz-box punk with pop sensibilities, psych infused with blues — it goes on and on. But one thing is for certain: They are one of South Florida’s most beloved bands, a distinction they’ve earned through hard work and infectious hooks.
Starting as a kind of bedroom project for singer-guitarist Ale Campos, the band evolved into Smvt with Emile Milgrim on drums and Johnny Love on bass. When Love left to focus on Death Lottery, Nina Carolina arrived and Las Nubes was born.
“We knew we had to keep up momentum, if not work even harder, to push the project forward,” Milgrim tells PureHoney. “Luckily there weren’t really any issues aside from constantly teaching people outside of Miami that it’s not pronounced Las Noobz.”
They’ve been featured on NPR’s Alt.Latino and Remezcla’s “New Songs You Need to Hear.” Their new album, the appropriately titled “Smvt,” is a Sweat Records Records release; both Campos and Milgrim work at Sweat Records, the Miami shop. The nine-track album spans their output, from early to newest, with a fluid narrative holding the songs together. And the songs are beautiful. Catchy and danceable. Wistfully sad.
The album’s artwork has a duality of its own. “We thought we’d try to have a photographer take a picture and retouch it to get a ‘vintage’ or ‘nostalgic’ feel,” says Campos. “We enlisted Emile’s partner Mariana Mendoza for that and she also suggested we look through some of her family’s old photos.”
It was Mendoza’s family hacienda in Nicaragua that inspired the band name, and it’s a photo of Mendoza’s mom and friends enjoying a bachelorette slumber party in 1964 that graces the cover — an image of youthful abandon filtered by time. Even the video for the single “QSW” has the bittersweetness that permeates their music. Culled from found footage and spliced with new clips submitted by fans, it is the perfect example of how Las Nubes work and why they are loved.
Las Nubes play the“Svmt” record release 7pm Thursday June 13 at The Bridge in Miami with Pesh Kab and A Fucking Bug. lasnubes.bandcamp.com ~ Abel Folgar
