Had it been in this last decade, Che Guevara, on his journey that began on a motorcycle, could have encountered many artists traveling through his Latin America. He would have seen a Manu Chao in Ecuador, citing Eduardo Galeano in interviews. And even followed the evolution of a host of truly Latin American rock groups, from Patagonia to the far north of Colombia. Such is the case of Desorden Publico, a band that for 18 years put Venezuela on the continent's musical map. Besides being at the forefront of the local pop/rock scene – which includes groups like King Changó and Los Amigos Invisibles –, the group adds salsa, mambo and merengue to its ska, other Caribbean rhythms.
There, with six albums on their résumé, some gold and platinum records in their baggage and many kilometers traveled across the Americas and Europe, Desorden Publico is regarded as a legend, a myth. The band's discography includes five albums released by Sony Music Venezuela, some of them also in the North American market. Desorden publico (1988), the first album, with cover and musical concept inspired by 2 Tone (legendary British ska label), reached sales exceeding 50,000 copies in Venezuela alone.
En descomposición (1991), the second work, featured the refined production of Venezuelan jazz musician Gerry Weil and brought a certain experimentalism to the group's sound, something of funk and a deeper dive into Caribbean sounds. The album earned Desorden Publico an achievement they are very proud of in their career: performing at the First Ibero-American Rock Festival (1991). There, on stage, the Venezuelan ska group found one of its closest musical relatives in the Americas, alongside Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (Argentina). They were Os Paralamas do Sucesso.
The exchange of cards between the bands brought Brazilian Carlos Savalla, responsible for albums like Bora Bora and Big Bang (Paralamas), to produce the Venezuelans' third album, Canto popular de la vida y muerte (1994). The album redefined Desorden Publico's sound, incorporating much reggae and some dub into the band's Latin cocktail. "Tiembla", the main single, reached the top of the charts and put the group playing in 90% of Venezuelan territory.
It also yielded performances in North America (including Mexico and Puerto Rico) and Europe. Plomo Revienta (1997), the fourth album, brought the signature of K.C. Porter (La marcha del golazo solitário – Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Libertad – La Ley, Cerimony – Santana). On the track "Chacal", it invites Angelo Moore, leader of Fishbone, to tell the story of the terrorist of the same name. In 1998, Sony released ¿Donde está el futuro?, an album with rarities from the beginning of the band's career. Here, thanks to Radiola Records' initiative, the band is crawling toward its first steps. Diablo, its sixth album, shows all the maturity acquired in these nearly two decades of work.
It features Neville Staples of the Specials as guest on the track "Black Market Man". "Combate", the CD's first promotional song, got an interesting Portuguese version made especially for Brazil. Diablo will also have four music videos on multimedia track ("El Clon", "Truena Truena", "Black Market Man" and "Combate"). With this, the band's ties with the Brazilian homeland should gain new contours. As the chorus of "Combate" says: "Desorden tá na rua!".