The Empordà troubadours who dedicate verses to Rodalies, Aliança Catalana and the PSC
The group Fetus releases the album 'Romancer tartera', made up of 13 romances on current topics, which will premiere live in a concert on April 30 in Barcelona
La Bisbal del AmpurdánA ballad is a traditional composition in verse, intended to be sung or recited in a festive and popular setting, which narrates current events as a social chronicle. Many musicians interested in folk heritage have replicated the formula, such as Jaume Arnella, Quico Sabater, or Bob Dylan himself. Now, the group Fetus, from La Bisbal d'Empordà, has also joined this trend and has just released their sixth album, Romancer tartera (Bankrobber, 2026), made up of 13 punk-rock ballads. They talk about the most recent Catalan reality, referring, more or less veiledly, to the Cercanías trains, the airport expansion, the PSC, Sílvia Orriols, Carles Mazón, or the America's Cup. The first live concert is on April 30th in Barcelona, at the Teatre Casinet, and they will then continue in Girona (May 9th), Lleida (May 16th), and Altafulla (May 30th), before an intense summer touring all over Catalonia.
The core of Fetus is formed by singer and guitarist Adrià Cortadellas, bassist Telm Terradas, and drummer Adrià Jiménez, who rehearse and create regularly from La Bisbal and its surroundings. They then have four great musicians as luxury allies, such as Carles Belda on accordion and, for the first time, Joan Colomo (who is the producer) doubling the electric guitar. "On this album they have called us chroniclers and we agree. In the end, it is all an exercise in understanding the ballad as a predecessor of the press and wanting to reclaim and reinterpret it as a genre that often has a certain objectivity, but the mere fact of singing it is already a political act in itself," explains Adrià Cortadellas.
The fusion of garage punk and folk music so characteristic of Fetus remains innate in this latest work. The accordion, violin, and bagpipes happily blend with the hard rhythms of the drums and the distortion of the guitars. The songs move between the ironic and sarcastic tone of La Trinca, the raw energy of The Clash, the British folk of The Pogues, or the protest song of Billy Bragg. They are like fairground jugglers. Trovadores of the cuckold's hand. A squad of nineties rudies who experience Catalan from here as a great madness.
"We are putting hot topics in the spotlight"
All of this forms an album in the shape of an "auca" that portrays a country that is going downhill or, directly, through the rocky ground. "Perhaps there is less putaespañolismo Musically the songs have a lot of strength. Without a chorus and descriptive, faithful to the romance genre. Themes such as the anthem of liberation stand out
Musically the songs have a lot of strength. Without a chorus and descriptive, true to the romance genre. Themes that stand out include the anthem of liberation by Camarada; the Candidatura de progreso that promises the expansion of the airport and Hard Rock; the ode to Mori el brunch, with the invaluable collaboration of the very high-pitched voice of Quim Carandell; or Macrofestival, which hits the nail on the head regarding large events "subsidized by arms funds that destroy neighborhood festivals". Also the Romance del topo, about an undercover cop, with Xantal Rodríguez, from Remei de Ca la Fresca; Una nueva Cataluña, dedicated to Sílvia Orriols —“your alliance is a new yoke,” she remarks—; or the deca log of Mazón's negligences in Romance de la Rambla del Poio.