La Isla Electronica "3:17"

La Isla Electronica are the Portland synth-punk quartet of Susana Sainz (vocals, synth), Ian Howe (guitar, synth), Amy Kay (bass), and AJ McClary (drums), and "3:17" is their debut full-length for à La Carte Records. Nine songs, twenty-four minutes, sung in Spanish, the record drifts through Mediterranean heat and Pacific rain in the same breath — femme-fronted synth-punk that splits the difference between the cold romanticism of early-80s Spanish underground electronic music (Aviador Dro, Décima Víctima, Esplendor Geométrico) and the bright-edged urgency of The Go-Go's, Chin-Chin, and Missing Persons. Sainz slips between memories of Spain and the strange glow of an American dream that won't quite finish loading, with lyrics that circle questions of identity without trying to resolve them. Engineered and mixed by Evan Mersky at Red Lantern Studios in Portland and mastered by Sasha Stroud, the record balances acoustic and electronic drums under taut basslines, churning analog synths, and guitar work that knows when to step back.