‘Tocats de l’ala’: a Catalan rock story

Sau and Sangtraït appeared in 1988 and Sopa de Cabra, Lax’n’Busto and Els Pets in 1989. Thirty years seems like long enough to get perspective on the Catalan rock scene, and the most profound analysis produced to date has just come out: Tocats de l’ala, a book in the form of an oral history written by Oriol Rodríguez and published by Contra.It resconstructs the scene, without avoiding issues, like the not so cordial relationships between bands and the general deprecation with which the Barcelona press dealt with Catalan rock.

The book does not focus solely on the four famous groups (Sau, Els Pets, Sopa de Cabra and Sangtraït) who, on June 14 1991, gave the biggest indoor concert in Europe at the Palau Sant Jordi. Although the title is inspired by one of the most popular songs from the Empordà (by Sopa de Cabra), the book takes on insights from over sixty interviews.