Beta Maximo A Cuchillo cassette
BETA MAXIMO is the moniker for Javier Sánchez, a one-man operation who has been cranking out recordings for a good three years now, earning a spot in the wave of synth punk that has been showing up stateside from Europe. Where a band like CUIR takes synth pop and jams it full of anthemic punk and Oi! influences, or fellow Spaniards ZERO AZÚCAR very successfully blend it with pop punk sensibilities, BETA MAXIMO is more fixated in the early, robotic aura of early synth-pop and the work of absolute genre godfathers DEVO. From the delivery of (and effects on) the vocals, to leaning into the kind of synthesizer sounds that make you think of early keyboards and boxy robots, the result is pretty interesting. That’s not to say you’ll miss the guitars and punk rhythm as they are well-represented, but the emphasis is what differentiates this project in a good way. That same tendency may rob the songs of some of the catchiness of other current proponents of the “punk + Casio” sound, but proves effective regardless. US tape release of a digital EP cranked out in 2024.