Primavera – Self-Titled EP

Punk started in Costa Rica in the early 1990s—with bands like Circulo Vicioso, Osmosis and Ira—much later than in most other places in Latin America. To this day, the country has many political problems and its citizens face many hardships on a daily basis. Since 2018, right-wing extremist movements have been on the rise, and it’s the minorities who suffer the consequences. This helps us to understand the context in which bands like Primavera were born.

This hardcore punk band from San José, Costa Rica, has a rabid, energetic, raw and angry approach to life and politics. The trio consists of Jenny (vocals/guitars), Johann (vocals/bass) and Manolo (drums). Apparently they have a penchant for short, distorted, angry songs. There’s not much information about them on the Internet, but their songs and especially their lyrics should give us everything we need.

The album opens with a soft sample that soon gives way to the band’s first distorted sounds, with fast beats and screams about women’s liberation and politics, and then it goes on and on and on. The concept of the body and pro-choice is a central theme of the EP. The second song, “Aborto,” is about the right to choose, and the fourth track, “Fea,” is about beauty standards and how women are trapped in a game they never seem to win. Fuck that, says Primavera, we’ll stay ugly.

Feminism is at the forefront of their music. They talk about fragile masculinity on tracks 5 and 6 (the only song sung entirely in English). Things will change when the way we talk and act changes, when our behavior changes. When we unlearn all the bad things that are ingrained in us. That’s something we have to set our minds to. It’s not impossible, we can do it.

Primavera is taking a stand against the patriarchy and the state. We don’t want any more bullshit from the powerful institutions. Nor any of those traditional monoliths of indoctrination, like school (as seen in the third track “Escuela”, the shortest on the EP).

The band is deeply concerned with reclaiming women’s lives and bodies. Much in line with bands like Spitboy and their saying: “Mi Cuerpo Es Mio” (My body is mine). The last track on the EP is pretty much about that. Basically, the EP can be summed up in one sentence:

We want to learn again what is love. Let’s always keep that in mind. Press play and rethink everything.

The topics seem broad, but they all revolve around the core of feminism. If you don’t speak Spanish, this might be the time to learn and help you listen to the voices of Latin American people, especially if they are not cis-male. They have a lot to say, so don’t let their voices go unheard. We can do our part in many ways.