Los Bitchos’ ‘Talkie Talkie’ is a raucous 1980s discotheque

Picture this: It’s the 1980s, and you are in a glitzy nightclub. Neon lights run along painted black walls, a disco ball sparkles overhead, the fog machine is running, the hair is big and the eyeshadow is garishly purple.

That is where Los Bitchos want to take you with their new album, Talkie Talkie, which they envision as a fictional nightclub.

“I’m going to go full Debbie Gibson,” says guitarist Sarah Petale. “Give me Tiffany. Give me, like, ’80s Madonna. I’d really enjoy for Duran Duran to be there.”

This ’80s club also has a Latin twist thanks to a psychedelic cumbia compilation Sarah discovered called “The Roots of Chicha” that made her want to start the band in the first place.

In this session, Petale and bassist Josefine Jonsson of Los Bitchos explain how they write, how their varied backgrounds influence their sound, how they ended up working with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos on their debut album and why they were so captivated by the ’80s while making this album.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.