Escorbuto Crónico (not to be confused with Eskorbuto, a better known punk band from the Basque country) were an almost legendary punk band (at least in Spanish terms) from the Canary Islands. Since information about old 80's Spanish bands is very limited and hard to come by, especially for a "provincial" band, this is sketchy and short.
They formed in the end of 1979, some say after stealing and loaning (without planning to return) their instruments. They lived in La Laguna, a small city in the province of Tenerife, were most of the punk scene in the Canarian islands was concentrated and where the punk 'zine "Cirrosis" was edited.
They started as a 4 piece band but after a month of playing together, one of the guitar players confessed that he liked Led Zeppelin, so only three remained: Lison (drums), Bola (bass) and Zurda (guitar). After 3 years of making noise, Bola left, so they asked LisonÂ’s brother Chiru for taking over bass duties. Also vocalist Jordi joined, and the band was ready to take the island by storm.
In the early 80's, the city council of La Laguna organized concerts under the name of "Rock by borough". Escorbuto Crónico played there occasionally, along with other Canarian bands of that era such as Asunto Familiar Grave and Familia Real. By the way, they never get along well with the latter group and their enmity was pretty well known.
Escorbuto Crónico's musical tastes were typical punk and Oi!, both Spanish bands as Los Desechables, La UVI, Basura, Cicatriz and Decibelios and foreign bands such as GBH, Dead Kennedys, Fear, Black Flag, Abrasive Wheels & 4 Skins. Those are clearly reflected in their music, especially in their unreleased stuff.
About the same time their 7" was released in 1982, they dedicated a song over the radio to "Reagan the son of a bitch", and some say that act helped them gain more popularity then their debut record. The discography of Escorbuto Crónico is limited to one official release, the aforementioned "Documentación" 7", with "Tieso Talegos" as the b-side. It was produced and released by the Ja Ja label (JAJA-003), also based in the Canary Islands, which also released the obscure Ataúd Vakante. Escorbuto Crónico's 7" is worth quite a bit and a sought after item in Spain and in punk collectors circles. There's a demo of their unreleased debut LP which circulates among tape traders, which is easier to get then the 7". It's a 25 minutes long rough quality recordings, with lyrics against work, the church, authority, model citizens, the Vatican and the pope and even an anti Beatles cover. Besides the aforementioned recordings, there are also some live tapes from 1981 up to 1984, also popular among Spanish tape traders. Their 2nd 7", which in 1983 the group declared they were working on, never saw the light of day.
In the mid 80's the group disbanded. Singer Jordi became the vocalist/ keyboard player for the controversial (some say racist) ska/Oi! Band Conemrad. That band formed in 1985 and releasd a demo in 1987 titled "Soldados del asfalto". Chiru and Zurda, along with a guy called Cuervo, started the relatively popular band Guerrilla Urbana, which played Escorbuto Crónico's songs such as "En nombre de Espauot; and "Son la Cagada".
Source : Federico
