Dávila 666

Hailing from the grimy bars and gritty streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dávila 666 have managed to create a lo-fi garage record that perfectly encapsulates a dirty, hot night in the tropical darkness. In their self-titled debut, Dávila 666, the band takes from influences like the Velvet Underground, The Stooges and The Seeds to create a sound that is uniquely theirs. With sludgy guitars courtesy of Johnny Otis Dávila and unforgiving percussion, tracks like “El Lobo” and “Callejón” Dávila 666 wrap stories of citadine danger and semi-illicit sexual encounters in bombastic punk riffs made to soundtrack our most primal urges. “Basura” could be an anthem for a generation of young Puerto Ricans, with singer Carlitos Dávila growling about being seen as “trash.” While Dávila 666 touches upon themes of disenfranchisement, drugs, and relationships gone wrong, the band never takes itself too seriously. Living up to their favorite descriptor – “a fucked up version of Menudo”– the band’s music is inherently fun, danceable, and its rhythms are full of a weary whimsy that is hard to replicate.