Richmond-based punk band, Railgun, has teamed up with the powerhouse vocalist, Taisha Estrada, from the D.C. post-punk band Outerloop for their latest flamenco-tinged single “Yo Sansón Tú Dalilia”. Sung entirely in Spanish, the lyrics point towards a love story in decay with Estrada taking center stage as the heart of music.
After coming up with a riff that had a decidedly “Spanish” vibe, Railgun guitarist Gregory Johnson notes that, ““I didn’t really have a plan of where it was going or how it should go but after coming up with that opening riff I definitely wanted to keep with the overall theme and tone”.
When it came to the decision to collaborate with a singer outside the band for the first time Johnson explains, “I felt like if I were to put English this it just wouldn’t do it justice and my Spanish is like minimum level. Seeing that Taisha speaks fluently and sings beautifully, why would I pass up the opportunity to ask someone so talented to guest on this pretty damn good song?”
And Estrada delivers with abundance with this collaboration. Though the music opens with a bang, there’s plenty of soul and emotional weight that comes through first few stanzas. “Que Pesadas (So Heavy) / Las cadenas sufrir (Suffering these chains)” she sings, “No quiero tu pena (I don’t want your pity) / “No quiero que pienses en mi (I don’t want you to think of me)”. As Railgun picks up with choppy staccato rhythms, Estrada often works in rhythmic counterpoint giving a call-and-response feel that fills the music to the brim with contrasting tones and feels.
With a nice long instrumental bridge, the guitar takes over as the primary melodic voice for just a moment as it mimics the echoing desperation of the verses overtop a minimal soundscape. Estrada gently returns towards the end to lend her support with gentle background vocals, and as the drums finally takeover for a rhythmically charged ending, the band shows off a more metal flare reminiscent of Estrada’s home band, Outerloop. Together they make one last mighty push singing, “Siempre recupero (I always recover) / Tengo piel de cuero (My skin is made of leather)”.
Both bands will be performing at Pie Shop in DC along with Greenland for a special Halloween show on Thursday, October 27, 2022 where Taisha and Railgun will perform this new collaboration live along with other original songs and festive covers.
“Yo Sansón Tú Dalilia” is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Find it on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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