That’s fine, of course, and Spanish Love Songs should be congratulated on laying everything on the line so honestly. In other words, it will be this bleak forever and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. These are tales of broken hearts and broken homes, drug abuse and booze, friends dying and loved ones lying, not to mention the drudgery of day-to-day life in a world that, as Dylan sings on Kick, is going to do just that to you. The truth is – as this album’s title suggests – everything is fucked.
‘ It won’t be this bleak forever,’ Dylan sings on second track Self-Destruction – his voice trembling, as it usually does, as if he’s on the verge of tears – before adding a sly, sarcastic ‘ Yeah, right’ to an already unconvincing statement. Things are no better on this third record. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Dylan Slocum, the LA-based quintet have been venting their various frustrations via their Menzingers-ish, gruff-yet-melodic punk rock since 2015’s debut LP, Giant Sings The Blues. To say that Spanish Love Songs wear their trauma on their sleeves is an understatement. Whether the inspiration is death, heartbreak, mental illness, religion, the state of the world or something else, music has served as a means of catharsis for as long as people have been making it. Think about all the great albums that are rooted in the pain and suffering of the songwriter behind them. You don’t have to be a tortured artist to make good art, but it can help.
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