Two years after their Corasones 7”, Madrid power trio Rata Negra drops their debut album, Oido Absoluto, on La Vida Es Un Mus and Beat Generation. Oido Absoluto is comprised of twelve hard-hitting tracks of punk. The band’s sound blends late 70s/early 80s melodic punk with a post-punk-ish deathrock sensibility – think endlessly catchy hooks and heavily reverbed vocals. Dangerhouse is a good jumping off point, with bands like X and The Bags feeling like obvious touchstones, and there are vibes of eastern European bands like Pekinska Patka mixed with a less anthemic version Polikarpa Y Sus Viciosas, but Rata Negra’s sound is, arguably, closest to Juanita Y Los Feos, a band with whom they share members. What makes Oido Absoluto such a compelling listen, however, is not their influences but the tension in their songs. There is an anxiety implicit in the tension between the melodic and the gothic gloom – two elements that want to blend as much as they want to break apart. Oido Absoluto is another one in the win column for the fantastic La Vida Es Un Mus.