L.A. Bands Steal Noches Show

The highlight of Sunday’s rock en espan~ol show at the Key Club was meant to be Argentine group Los Piojos, in town to promote its fourth release, the party-friendly “Azul.”

But the two Los Angeles bands sharing the bill at this edition of Las Noches del Dragon, a concert series sponsored by the genre’s influential magazine La Banda Elastica, were as interesting as the visitors, who proved too superficial to command long-term attention.

Veteran indie rockers Voz de Mano offered the kind of performance that has an almost healing power. Singer-songwriter Tony Estrada takes a kaleidoscopic approach to the task of creating fresh and meaningful rock ‘n’ roll.

This was accomplished through the use of offbeat instrumentation and special guests, which Sunday included a string trio and a horn section adding to the mix for one tune each.

Voz de Mano’s compositions range from the obscure and meditative to the aggressively direct, including mini-trips into psychedelic landscapes.

Los Piojos’ festive anthems were less complicated, using a variety of rhythms and the technical expertise of its two guitarists, drummer and bassist (the excellent Miguel Angel Rodriguez) to get people to dance. The crowd’s reception was somewhat cold, prompting singer Andres Ciro Martinez to express his disappointment at having traveled so far for so little.

Opening band La Telaran~a is one of the newest and freshest voices to emerge in the L.A. rock en espan~ol scene. The band benefits strongly from singer Cyndi, who brings an alternately innocent and wounded persona to the group’s dreamy pop-rock songs.