Puerto Rican band Space Corolla combines math-rock virtuosity with anthemic, accessible punk songcraft on their newest single, and the mixture proves potent. As the drums, guitars, and bass weave and noodle around each other, the singer bellows with a pop-punk inflection about love’s ability to make you completely lose track of time. The track eventually explodes into a hardcore punk breakdown, which gives me the urge to call up my best friends and go moshing. This is exciting music, not bogged down by the prog indulgences of some math rock bands. The drum rolls in particular are addictive as all hell.
Cutting through all the technical musicality and driving guitars, though, is a disarmingly sincere love song. “Tu risa es tan familiar; me calma y ayuda a borrar estos malos momentos. Ya ni recuerdo”. Your laughter is so familiar, it calms me and helps erase these bad moments. I don’t even remember them anymore. The song explores love’s potential to free us from our bitterness and misgivings, towards others and towards the wider world.
As the song nears its conclusion, though, the lyrics veer from loving to pleading, and we begin to sense a desperation for the beloved to cure all ailments and end all suffering. To stop the passing of time itself. Come on. Cure me of old age, and I promise to love you forever. Unrealistic expectations, perhaps, but an emotionally raw and sincere portrayal of love at its most intoxicating. This is yet another Puerto Rican artist to keep an eye on.
Written by Matthew Wrafter
