THE SHEEP RECORDS STORY #21: LOS BANDITOS "OPIUMPARTY" (2002)

Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.

Following The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s "With the Finger On the Trigger" (...featured here...) released in 1999, "Opiumparty" by Los Banditos was the second full-lenght release in the then growing Sheep Records catalogue.

Recorded and mixed the previous year, the album was released in January 2002 in CD format with cat. number Gigot 021 and as a vinyl LP with cat. number Kebab 021. Tracks order for the two formats was a little bit different, with the CD release also containing one bonus track not included on the LP.

"Opiumparty" features mostly original material from a band that, at the time of release, had already reached maturity and could easily craft their compositions using many different elements. Two covers are also included of the album: "Ca Plane Pour Moi", a 1977 hit-single by Belgian musician Plastic Bertrand (...here's the original version), and "Beim Hully-Gully Bin Ich König", a 1964 original by East German combo Die Sputnicks.

The short Sheep Records press-release presents the record with these words: «This is the third album by the East German combo Los Banditos. Their sound is an explosive mixture of 60's beat, surf, twang, rock'n'roll, garage, trash, easy listening & love, sex & crime mixed up with some future sounds from the 21st century. In other words: the perfect soundtrack for wild dance parties.»...



"Opiumparty" contains the following tracks:

01. Nackt Im Taxi (3:25)
02. Oh Mädchen Komm (3:19)
03. Was Kann Ich Tun (3:11)
04. Monika Und Janette (2:55)
05. Ca Plane Pour Moi (3:32)
06. Hot Rod Sally (2:15)
07. Mittagsruhe Im Polizeirevier (3:40)
08. Ytrapmuipo (4:38)
09. Cairo (4:11)
10. Hochzeit In Bristritja (2:55)
11. Kalaschnikow (2:01)
12. China Strip (3:12)
13. Illuminatis (7:44)

bonus track

14. Beim Halligalli Bin Ich König (Ultramono) (2:58)

All tracks were remastered in July 2018 and are available in FLAC lossless format along with complete artwork reconstruction and printable PDF files.

For my remaster of this album I used audio tracks sourced from the CD release, but the tracklisting reflects that of the LP release - which I thought is the best - with the cover of Die Sputniks' "Beim Hully-Gully Bin Ich König" offered as a bonus track.

Please have a look at the comments for the download links.



Here's the complete credits and personnel list of the album:

Django B.B. Silbermann: bass and vocals
Com. Rodriguez Flamingo: guitar, keyboards, organ and vocals
Superjoe Paco Louis: effects and percussion
Jiri Buschnik: drums
Mr. 2000 Volt: guitar and sitar

Recorded at Elektronik Tempel Studio, Saalfeld, in January 2001.

Recording engineer: Dr. Jens Leuschner

Mixed at Superstar Studio, Saalfeld, in July 2001 by Mr. 2000 Volt and Django B.B. Silbermann

Mixing engineer: Dr. Don Eck

Produced by Steffen Gräf.

Mastered by Dan Suter at Echochamber, Zürich.

Artwork by Franco and Django B.B. Silbermann.

Additional musicians:

Johannes Schrantz: violin and viola on "Cairo"

Miss Zero: vocals on "Nacht Im Taxi" and "Hot Rod Sally"

Almuth Eger: vocals on "Mittagsruhe Im Polizeirevier" and "Illuminatis"

Thomas Uhlmann: clarinet and transverse flute on "Hochzeit In Bristritja" and "Illuminatis"

Greetings and thanks to: Slf-Clubhaus + Salem, Claudia&Michael@x-vision, Sabine 1+2, Sandra, Monika + Jeanette, Fam, Leuschner, Fifty Foot Combo, Flaming Sideburns, King Khan, The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E., Robert and The Roboters, Ray and The Rockets, Die Sputnicks, Yucca Spiders, S. Jansen, Wassu + Nina, Jana, Andrea, D. Siegesmud, Revolverblatt, East-Club Heiko + Jaqueline, Unique, Wild at Heard, Kassa + Rose Tom, Under Pressure, Lutz + Hans, Villingen-Gang, Siggi + Moni, Kradhalle, Françoise, B. Parrish, Phil Dirt, Norman, Steve, Sheep Records, Artkontor, Matthias Rutishauser U.V.A......

The "Opiumparty" tour poster, circa 2002

The following short reviews of "Opiumparty" are sourced - and translated - from the web:

«Sweet 60's Beat combined with 70's Fuzz, Eastern patterns, Surf, organ and - before all - great melodies. Their explosive soft-sex-rock-sound with warm organs, catchy guitar licks and some very expressive analog-stuff-shows, makes Los Banditos a very creative and therefore interesting band. This Bandito album is already their third and has instrumentals (with some additional and very welcome female "lalala's") but also songs with vocals. Whether they are sung backwards, Elvis-like, or with maniacal laughter, it sure makes "Opiumparty" a highly varied album.» - Karl Ruddel / Highvintage.net


«60's Instrumental and Surfbeat paired with Erotic Movies and Italo-Western soundtracks - wrapped up with as much glamour as possible - is the sound of Los Banditos. The fact that the quintet from Jena blends this mixture with original vintage equipment from the former East Germany gives the stylish bandits not only a distinctive sound, but also a certain charm. In comparison to their two previous albums, their Surf Music sound is kept more in the background in favour a of a more mature approach that includes occasional vocal numbers and East German "Big Beat" folklore, which would perfectly suit any spy movie from the '60s. If you are into this this sound cocktail, the album is really worth your money. Sexy party music for sexy people - even without opium.» Achim Lüken / Ox-fanzine.de

Here's a short Los Banditos biography as found here:

In 1996 the band was founded as a trio in Jena, Germany. The Banditos first specialized in Surf, but soon enough line up and musical competence were steadily broadened, so that four years later we're facing a five-headed gang that is still celebrating its music on a solid Surf base and is unmistakeably inspired by the East-German "Big Beat" bands of the early Sixties (yes, this term did exist already 40 years ago), but is integrating the sexy groove of the Sixties/Seventies Soul into its music, performing classical R'n'B vocal pieces and with the help of the DJ, who is a regular band member, creates an own version of Post Easy Listening Pop. This mixture is produced on original vintage GDR-equipment: Musima de Luxe guitar, Musima Billant 76 bass and Weltmeister T/O 200.5 organ.

The Banditos' live gigs turn out to be a challenge for your dancing as well as for your laughing abilities. Glamour is served in family packs and the prescribed combination of musical drugs, namely Sixties Beat, Surf, sound tracks of spy thrillers, Spaghetti Westerns and blue movies, Black Soul, Las Vegas Glamour, Shadows melodies and brave postmodern Pop makes even the death move. At the latest with their interpretations of "Je t’aime… moi non plus" and "Oh Tannenbaum" (whose melody is also the state hymn of Maryland) every hall goes wild.

But of course the Banditos are not only game for popular party tunes. In the first place elegance and understatement are dominant. In an adequate atmosphere it is not unlikely that an Los Banditos concert takes up to three hours. And there's not one moment of boredom included. Their own compositions, titled "Fremder Planet" (Unknown Planet), "Porno Uschi" (Porn Uschi), "Unbekannte wilde Frau" (Unknown Wild Woman) or "Zwischenfall im Orbit" (Incident In Space) don't have to hide behind their versions of classics or obscurities.

Self evidently, the Banditos are now all year around on tour, not only at home, but also in Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Belgium and Danmark. Their divine "Sex" video clip ran several times on Viva; Arte broadcasted a complete concert and they have been hired to write the music for Karen Finleys thestre play "The Theory of Total Blame". Of course they appear also frequently in the radio, in fanzines and the press. Some samples? Spex: "Best Surf/Instrumental record of approximately the last 18 month." Flying Revolverblatt: "Fantastic Instrumental sound between Surf &Easy Listening." Ox: "The heroes of Trash Surf Beat… were the only ones who managed to make the 700 lethargic bastards move."

Los Banditos sometime in the 00s

The following clips offer a preview of the remastered album, enjoy "Nackt Im Taxi", "Was Kann Ich Tun", "Hot Rod Sally", "Ytrapmuipo", "Cairo", "Hochzeit In Bristritja" and "Illuminatis"!

The original clips for "Hot Rod Sally" and "Hochzeit in Bistritja" are also included as a bonus.

Los Banditos are still rocking after more than twenty years since their foundation, and their latest album "Apokalypse Der Liebe", released in 2016, is another heartfelt addition to their catalogue.

If you enjoy "Opiumparty" I strongly encourage you to show them your appreciation purchasing their available albums and singles.

Here below you can watch one of their recent concerts which was filmed at the BC Club in Ilmenau, Germany.

More information about Sheep Records and Los Banditos is available here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140810033155/http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://www.losbanditos.de

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Banditos/116466851763320

http://www.discogs.com/artist/362031-Los-Banditos

https://myspace.com/banditen/photos

http://www.parocktikum.de/wiki/index.php/Los_Banditos

http://www.schuette-raibach.de/seiten/mitglieder/oliver_jahn/los_banditos.html

The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!