They know it’s only Rock 'n' Roll, but The Parrots like it

Their live show has long been compared to a party and they’ve translated that spirit to the record. If you approach Los Niños Sin Miedo, which fittingly translates as ‘Children Without Fear’, expecting pristine production you'd be missing the point. As with their friends Hinds, for whom singer and guitarist Diego Garcia produced debut LP Leave Me Alone, a huge part of The Parrots charm is that they don’t sound polished. The album only took a week to finish, yet has such a gutsy rawness it sounds like it was recorded in one take.

Los Niños Sin Miedo is equally in thrall with 50s Rock 'n' Roll as it is 60s garage bands. Beyond the music, the artwork tips its hat at The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and bassist Alex de Lucas is a dead ringer for a youthful Captain Beefheart on the cover, but their love of the music of yesteryear is only part of the story. The sound isn’t a mere homage; they’ve thrillingly updated and transported their influences into the thriving modern day Madrid garage rock scene they helped to establish.

Their love of Rock 'n' Roll was abundant on earlier songs like “White Fang” and similarly here the likes of ”Let’s Do It Again” and “Casper” sound like Buddy Holly relocated to a Madrid bar amidst a haze of weed. But it’s not all stoner rock by any means - “A Thousand Ways” possesses the urgency of a song like “How Does it Feel to Feel?” by The Creation, with its three chord trick and Garcia’s relentlessly rasping vocal.

As playful as the record is, it also has its darker moments. “Jame Gumb” is named after serial killer Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs and accordingly the song itself comes across as positively unhinged. With the claustrophobic sound of the instruments and paranoid feel of the singing, it’s the sound of a bad trip compared to the more blissed out numbers, but equally rewarding.

Among stiff competition, standout song “The Road That Brings You Home” is The Parrots at their most epic. Reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”, the singing channels a similar mix of sadness and anger as the guitars chime and jangle beautifully, adding another string to their not inconsiderable musical bow.

The words are a mix of their mother tongue and English and on the rousing “No Me Gustas, Te Quiero”, a combination of both, where they bellow the title over a waltz time beat accompanied by a lovely slowly picked guitar and sing the verses in English.

The songs themselves, as with their initial clutch of releases, are short and sweet. None go beyond the three minute barrier, and one could listen to the record twice in the space of an hour and still have time to spare. So thick and fast do they arrive it takes a couple of listens to pick out the tunes' individual charms, but they quickly reveal themselves to be urgent, fun, invigorating and supremely catchy. There’s no self-indulgence to be found here. Instead, The Parrots spend only as long as they need to on them.

Capturing the sound of a fearsome live reputation on record can be daunting for band making their debut record, but here the Madrid trio sound truly fearless.