Los Bunkers (Rock)

• Genre: Latin Rock

About

This garage rock-inspired band is a dual brother act, founded in 1999 by Francisco and Mauricio Duran and Gonzalo and Alvaro Lopez in their hometown of Concepcion, Chile. (Fifth member Mauricio Basualto is merely a friend.) Taking inspiration from 1960s acts like the Kinks and the Zombies, the group released its self-titled debut in 2000 to local acclaim. Subsequent releases gained them a following -- and several awards -- in Chile, but it wasn't until their fourth album, Vida De Perros, was picked up by Nacional that they began to have an impact outside their home country. The band treads the same vintage path as many northern bands, but los Bunkers lack some of the self-conscious pretensions to cool that mark bands like the Strokes.

- Sarah Bardeen