Buenos Aires’ favorite retro dandy singer is back

During the late Nineties, when alternative rock was king, an odd Argentine band named Baccarat caught the public’s attention with a retropop sound and a crooner who wore tuxedos to rock clubs, anticipating the international revival of lounge music.

Baccarat is the missing link between the romantic crooners of the Sixties and the Nineties alt-rock culture represented by Babasónicos: a fusion of bolero, electronica, glamour and pop culture.

The band released several albums in the CD era on both major and independent labels, but somehow never managed to get into digital platforms. Until now.

Singer Sergio Pángaro proudly tells the Herald that Baccarat’s debut album “Por el mundo” finally arrived on Spotify in September. Further releases are scheduled for each subsequent month: “En La Ideal” (2001), “En castellano” (2003) and “Autoayuda” (2005).

For the past two decades, Baccarat’s albums were only available in YouTube, but the band never stopped performing live. Sergio Pángaro’s onstage humor and antics, backed by impeccable musicians and female backing vocalists, have made Baccarat a compelling fixture of Buenos Aires’ vibrant nightlife.

“Many people used to ask why our albums were not available on platforms, but it was purely my fault,” he says. “I never knew where to begin negotiations because I lost contact with the execs at the record companies. A few months ago, I asked Claude how to attract more people to our shows, and AI suggested calling Sony Music and PopArt, who were delighted to launch a reissue campaign.”

More than a crooner, Pángaro developed a distinctive persona as an entertainer capable of micro stand-up segments, telling ironic jokes about his passionate lyrics and making references to social and political landmarks of Argentina while introducing songs. 

During the 2001/02 economic crisis, he poked at himself onstage for singing about romantic heartache while the country was in turmoil. Last Christmas, he proposed a toast to the audience with tiny minibar bottles, argueing that everyone had to adapt to having less money.

“The concept was a combination of lounge and cocktail music, with samplers providing orchestration, and also toying with ideas from literature and films,” says Pángaro. “We came from a rock background, but the music had no connection to rock, and the press linked us to an international revival we were oblivious of.”

Throughout the years, Sergio Pángaro has also earned recognition as an author, publishing two books, “Señores chinos” (2007) and “Margarita Kenny – Memorias de la diva argentina que triunfó en la Ópera de Viena.” 

An experienced performer and a Renaissance man of sorts, Pángaro also appeared on a handful of films, including Cohn-Duprat’s “El artista” and Dolores Fonzi’s “Belén.”

An electropop counterpart A year before Baccarat’s first album, Pángaro also took part in San Martín Vampire, a legendary underground electropop supergroup with Rudie Martínez from Adicta and Fabio Rey from Los Brujos. The band briefly topped polls in rock magazines and earned praise from Soda Stereo’s Gustavo Cerati. But this much-hyped newcomer to the local scene never quite made it: their first album was released after the group had broke up.

Decades later, during the pandemic, Sergio, Rudie and Fabio reconnected and rekindled the project over Zoom, exchanging audio files that eventually became a new album, “Aspic.” The band returned to live performances and in recent years released another record, “Gris de neón,” without Martínez.

“San Martín Vampire aimed to reach clubbers,” says Pángaro. “We tried to make experimental pop songs you could dance to. Nothing new since Tom Jones recorded ‘Sex bomb’,” he adds.

Nowadays, San Martin Vampire is on a brief hiatus, but plans call for a new single before the end of the year. The idea is to give Baccarat room to capitalize on its renewed momentum, which includes closing the year with two Christmas shows on December 19-20 at La Noche de las Cúpulas. The setlist will mix their classic songs with traditional Christmas tunes.