The Empordà troubadours who dedicate verses to Rodalies, Aliança Catalana and the PSC

La Bisbal d'EmpordàA romanço is a traditional composition in verse, designed to be sung or recited in a festive and popular setting, which narrates current events as a social chronicle. Many musicians interested in folklore 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), consisting of 13 punk-rock rooted romanços. They talk about the most recent Catalan reality, referring, more or less veiled, to Rodalies trains, airport expansion, the PSC, Sílvia Orriols, Carles Mazón, or the America's Cup. The first live concert is on April 30th in Barcelona, at Teatre Casinet, and will be followed by dates 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 count on four great musicians as luxury allies, such as Carles Belda on accordion and, for the first time, also with 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's all an exercise in understanding the romanço as a predecessor to the press and wanting to claim 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 themes range between the ironic and cheeky 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 festival jesters. Horned-hand troubadours. A squad of 'rudies' from the nineties who experience native Catalan as a great joke.

"We put highly topical issues in the spotlight"

All of it makes up an album in the form of a comic strip that portrays a country that is going downhill or, directly, through the rocks. "Perhaps there is less putaespanyisme Musically the songs have a lot of strength. Without a chorus and descriptive, faithful to the romance genre. Themes such as the liberation anthem of

Musically the songs have a lot of power. Without a chorus and descriptive, faithful to the romance genre. Themes such as the liberation anthem of Camarada; theCandidatura de progrés 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 puts the finger on the wound of large events "subsidized by arms funds that ruin neighborhood parties". Also the Romanço del talp, about an undercover cop, with Xantal Rodríguez, from Remei de Ca la Fresca; Una nova Catalunya, dedicated to Sílvia Orriols —“your alliance is a new yoke”, he concludes—; or the decalogue of Mazón's negligence in Romanço de la Rambla del Poio.