Sons of Yma: A Collection of Peruvian Garage and Instrumental Bands From the 60s!

Peru’s mid to late 1960s rock and roll scene was an explosion of activity, understandably enough centered around its capital city of Lima, featuring both adaptations of Anglophonic favorites, often instrumentally, and a number of original efforts. But that said, its participants had to wait until towards the late 1990s for wider worldwide attention via both a number of initial reissues and, simultaneously, its own Nuggets. A 1999 bootleg CD specifically drawing on singles rather than album cuts, Sons of Yma has a reasonably good presentation, with a design featuring many local label logos, a detailed introduction from its anonymous compilers, and further liner notes from Peruvian listeners and fans providing more information about the acts where known, along with apologies at a couple of points for sound quality (which honestly isn’t that bad). Perhaps understandably the standout tracks are from the now retrospectively legendary Los Saicos, whose killer, growled originals “Come On” and the Trashmen-like “Demolicion” really do seem like they invented punk rock a decade in advance. But there’s plenty of general joy at work, from the engaging surf rock reworkings by Los Holy’s to the fired-up clip of Los Shains and Los Yorks and the psych-into-prog leanings of Traffic Sound.