Unlike most suburban outfits, however, their style evolved significantly with each successive album, not only developing a unique style for the band but also incorporating elements of murga, candombe, and tango to an electric guitar base. This plus frontman Ciro's songwriting has made them one of the most popular bands in modern Argentine rock, with a strong following across Latin America and Europe, unusual for a band in their subgenre of Argentine rock.
History
The band's origins can be traced to 1987 when a bunch of friends from different cities decided to try playing music. They began doing so in the pubs of the western suburbs of Buenos Aires, a similar beginning as other suburban rock bands. In 1991, they headed to Europe to participate in an anti-racist music festival in France, where they played with groups from Mali, Burkina Faso, Cuba, and Spain.
Ay Ay Ay followed in 1994, and both sold reasonably well and Ciro's songwriting was beginning to develop. However, the band's success was hampered by the domination by the Nuevo Rock Argentino rock ("New Argentine Rock") of the first half of the 1990s.
The band's third studio album, Tercer Arco, benefited from the suburban rock explosion of 1996: that year alone La Renga released their seminal album Despedazado por Mil Partes, Viejas Locas released their debut with the hit single "Intoxicado", among other events that sent suburban rock to the mainstream and ended new Argentine rock's dominance.
By the second half of the year Los Piojos were filling arenas and small stadiums. And by the start of 1997, Tercer Arco had gone double-platinum. The single "El Farolito" was at the top of rotation in most radio stations, and the video for "Maradó" (about former football player Diego Maradona) as well as that for "Verano del 92" made top 10 on MTV.
To some[who?], 1998's follow up studio album Azul is the best from the group. The band's assimilation of all types of eastern Argentine musical rhythms became clear with this release, and their eclectic nature did not cut into their popularity, in fact it made them more accessible to a wider Latin American taste, and so Los Piojos went on tour in Mexico and the United States. Ritual saw the light in 1999 as the 5th album for the band.
The new millennium arrived and saw Los Piojos still active. They performed several concerts with sellout numbers alongside other suburban rock acts such as Divididos, La Renga, Viejas Locas, and ska-Latin band Los Auténticos Decadentes.
The group released Verde Paisaje del Infierno in 2000. At the same year, Daniel Buira, the drummer, left the group after a fight with Kupinski[1][2].
At the end of 2002 they released Huracanes en Luna Plateada[3], with 19 songs recorded in concerts performed in the Huracán stadium, Luna Park, the Sports Center of Gymnastics and Fencing of La Plata, Rosario, Neuquén, Córdoba and Mendoza. All of these were recorded in the concerts between the years 2001 and 2002.
In 2003 the band came out with their 7th full-length, Máquina de Sangre. It became one of the best selling Argentinian albums of the year. The band would also sell out 70,000 seat River Plate Stadium, something only achieved locally by bands such as Soda Stereo, and the most important foreign musical acts. The album included the song "Motumbo" which was composed by former drummer Daniel Buira.
In 2004 the group went to their first international tour to Spain[4]
In 2005 the Los Piojos were awarded the Konex Award[5] as one of the beast rock bands of the decade.
The band's first DVD, Fantasmas peleándole al viento, was released in October 2006. Its title, taken from a lyric in the song "Cruel[6]," compiled live performances from three of their concerts: Boca Juniors Stadium in December 2005, Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in November 2004, and the outdoor stage at Obras Sanitarias in October 2005[7][8].
In May 2007 they released their second DVD called "Desde lejos no se ve"[9]
In 2008 they were nominated to the Gardel Awards 2008 in the categories "Best Rock Band", "Best Rock Album"; "Best Cover Design", "Song of the Year" (for "Pacific") and "Album of the Year".[11][12]. They were awarded "Best Rock Album" for their album civilizacion[13].
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