Pacifica, House of Women – Academy 2, Islington

Back in the 90s, most of my favourite bands where what you heard on the radio or found in record shows. Mostly British and American, and occasionally something from Europe, but not very often.

Now thanks to the stupid internet, I have a whole load of favourite bands from around the world who are unlikely to ever tour the UK. One exception thankfully is Pacifica. They’re a duo from Buenos Aires and released their debut album, Freak Scene, in September, although I feel like it’s been out 3 years given the amount I have played it. It’s my favourite album of the year and that’s quite an achievement since 2023 was a Blur comeback year.

They started as an “Instagram band” playing Strokes covers. For me the Strokes peaked with their first single, and thankfully Pacifica have many more good ones than that. Great live performance and looked like they had a lot of fun. Hard to believe that an Argentinian duo could get such a great reaction in the UK too, especially with the xenophobia of the last few years, but I guess if you love good music you’re not going to be a brainless internet idiot.

Support was from House of Women who were OK but a little bit too heavy/stoner rock for my ears. I’d have loved them in the early 2000s.