Divino Nino’s new album Foam feels like catching up with a lifelong friend. There’s undeniable songwriting chemistry between guitarist Camilo Medina and bassist Javier Forero, who met as kids in Bogotá, Colombia and years later reconnected by sheer happenstance after their families had both moved to Miami. Both studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where they met guitarist Guillermo Rodriguez and eventually Drummer Pierce Codina. Now Chicagoans, their rhythmic, soulful - and at times bilingual - Latinx punk songs are a reflection of their continent-spanning bond and proof that Divino Nino couldn’t have formed without unlikely but happy coincidences.
The ten tracks on Foam feature wistfully romantic lyrics like the yearning plea on the title track (“I really wanna run away with you”), and sunny, honeyed arrangements. Songs like Quiero trade-off between English and Spanish with woozy guitars and harmonies anchoring the sweetness of the lyrics. The quartet’s Latin American roots seep in throughout the LP’s silky psychedelic flourishes but especially on single Maria, which is sung entirely in Spanish. Inspired in equal parts by Argentine punk and the narratives of Mexican telenovelas, the personality-filled track is one of the most memorable on the record. For fans of Juan Wauters, Jerry Paper, Helado Negro, Devendra Barnhart and Shintaro Sakamoto.