You know you're into something good when you open the album you just bought and find a lyrics sheet, then play it and quickly realise the record is actually instrumental. The unruliness that defined Costa Blanca's short-lived career resulted in such nonsensical contradictions, and helps understand why one of Spain's best jazz-rock bands of the 70s never had a proper breakthrough.

Hailing from sun-bathed Alicante in the Spanish Levantine coast, Costa Blanca shared the stage with some of the country's best-known rock acts of the time, including Triana, Guadalquivir, Bloque or Coz, often receiving praise from fellow musicians and music critics alike. The band's sole LP takes the listener through a typical summer in the Mediterranean, from its blissful afternoons by the sea to galloping thunderstorms. It is reminiscent of some Weather Report with a Mediterranean flair. Formed by four musicians of diverse musical backgrounds, the band members proved exceptionally skilled despite their limited experience. Remarkably, drummer Pedro Barceló, who was just 17 at the time of recording, delivered an astonishing 9-minute solo and became one of Spain's most in-demand session musicians. Napi Carratalá's guitar ensures his inclination for psychedelic rock doesn't go amiss, and the imperturbable Chiki Navarret provides the funky bass lines holding the band together. At the same time, the French saxophonist Alain Fabrizio blows the jazz influence, adding a bit of soulfulness to the blend.


Partly because of the band's location away from the music industry centres of Barcelona and Madrid and mainly because of the carelessness that surrounded the band's activities, the album failed to attract any commercial success. It fell into oblivion, becoming today a highly collectable cult album and the only available memory anchor for those who saw them live. Done in full cooperation with all surviving band members, we're proud to bring you this reissue, with an 8-page booklet including bilingual (Spanish / English) liner notes and graphic memorabilia from the musicians' archives, as well as a reproduction of the original lyrics sheet.

"We were always stoned" seems to be the shared memory of all Costa Blanca members. And that's the right way to listen to this album today -- by the sea, please.