Todo Bien Todo Mal – Malo Para La Educación, Peor Para La Salud Review

There’s some fantastic music coming out of Spanish-speaking countries right now. Earlier this year, we heard the latest album from San Sebastián Midwest-emo outfit Comic Sans, a new record from Chilean band Estoy Bien, and a new mini album from Catalonia-based alt-metal band ANKOR. So when the band Todo Bien Todo Mal reached out to share with me their latest album Malo Para La Educacion, Peor Para La Salud, I just had to give it a listen.

Malo Para La Educacion, Peor Para La Salud was released in May and is definitely worth checking out. At its core, it’s an indie rock, emo-pop album that pulls influences from Japan’s Shimokita-kei scene. The album name itself comes from the slogan found on Shōtarō Kaneda’s motorcycle jacket from the anime/mangas, Akira. Meaning “good for health, bad for education”, this slogan is an act of rebellion against the system and perfectly sums up what you can expect from this album.

The album is a fantastic blend of chaotic indie rock and more toned-down emo vibes. The opening trio of tracks are straight-up indie rock post-hardcore with pounding drums and frantic riffs, with vocalist and guitarist Andres Boissiere pouring passion into the words he’s bellowing. Then the band playfully lowers the energy with the fourth track, y nada mas, which is more of an indie emo ballad. This ebb and flow continues throughout the album, with the last hurrah coming from the final track, Morichales y Tulipanes, which dances between Spanish flamenco and emotionally-charged shoegaze and indie-rock.

Influences are definitely on the band’s sleeves here, as the album dances through a mishmash of sounds from the aforementioned early post-hardcore and shoegazy vibes of bands like The Casket Lottery and Rival Schools, to the indie-rock sounds of bands like Pet Symmetry, and of course the emo sounds of bands like Comic Sans and Origami Angel. There’s also a clear J-Rock influence here, too, reminding me of bands like MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS and Number Girl.

Malo Para La Educacion, Peor Para La Salud is a fun album, and the energy I’ve seen from some of their live shows on social media is definitely present in the recordings. There’s a pure sense of energy to some of these tracks that I would absolutely love to see live, as I can imagine the atmosphere at their shows is electric. Yes, this is a very broad way of me asking for the band to come to the UK in the not-too-distant future.

While I can’t speak much about the lyrics, as, sadly, I can’t speak Spanish, I can say that it feels like Boissiere is pouring heart and soul into his vocals. He’s also able to bring a grittier, yell-singing vocal to the high-energy tracks, while being able to maintain a softer singing voice when needed. There’s a versatility with the vocals that I appreciate, as it adds more to the overall musical composition.