The Locos, Talco and Los Tres Puntos at the 2012 edition of MS

The Locos (ESP)

The Locos are a Spanish ska-punk band formed in 2005. Initially founded as a side project of Pipi, the backup vocalist for the world-famous Spanish ska-punk group Ska-P, they developed into a fully-fledged project after Ska-P dissolved that same year. Although originally inclined not to rejoin Ska-P subsequent to their break-up, Pipi now divides his efforts between the two bands.

The Locos’ journey to fame started off in 2006 with the release of “The Birdcage”, an album that gave away all Pipi’s musical influences (La Polla, Mano Negra, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Rancid). Among fans of the ska-punk genre The Locos have earned reputation of a must-see mainly because of Pipi, a contagious staging personality that envelops the band’s incandescent live performances.

Set to take on the world, The Locos went on an all-over-the-globe tour from 2005 to 2007, whilst maintaining enough energy to release their second album “Energia Inagotable” in 2008. Their third full-length called “Tiempos Dificiles” was released this year and was received more than well among the band’s fans.

In their lyrics The Locos draw on similar themes as the left-wing oriented Ska-P do: human rights including abolition of the death penalty, social injustice, anti-fascism and anti-capitalism and the legalization of marijuana.

http://www.the-locos.org/

Talco (IT)

Italy’s very own Talco were founded at the turn of the 20th century. Initially started off as a ska band, they found a sound all of their own in the course of the upcoming years. Mixing up Patchanka rhythms typical of Mano Negra with ska and punk, while incorporating Balkan influences and kletzmer, they always remained true to their heritage of Italian singer-songwriters – also when it came to lyrics.

The band’s highlight came, for instance, when they sold out the legendary German clubs SO36 in Berlin and the Indra Club in Hamburg, when they played (as a headline act) the Stemwede Open Air festival in front of 7.000 people and when they shared the same stage as Mad Caddies, NOFX, Agnostic Front, Lagwagon, Persiana Jones, The Real McKenzies, Betagarri and Obrint Pas.

Talco’s strong beliefs are firmly grounded in the anti-fascist and anti-racist ideals, in the conviction that music should be independent and in that people have to be warned off all discrimination.

http://www.talcoska.com/homepage.php

Los Tres Puntos (FR)

Los Tres Puntos is a French ska-punk band from Paris that was formed in 1995. The band is remarkable for their firm 100% belief in the DIY attitude towards concert production and tours and, even if their schedules were tight, they managed to play more than 100 live shows between 2008 and 2010. Singing both in French and Spanish, the band has released five full-length albums to date: “Los Tres Puntos” (1999), “Aficionados” (2000), “Si Oh” (2003), “10 Ans Ferme” (2006) and their latest effort, “Hasta La Muerte” (2011).