MercúrioCromos

Any young person is inevitably influenced by the music they listen to – and in the 90s, there was plenty to choose from. Today we explore some of the many artists and genres that were successful among young people at that time.

Formed in 1995 from the merger of two other bands, the quintet immediately assumed its desire to make pop-rock with strong hints of comedy – it would certainly not have been for nothing that the leader of this musical ‘gang’, Carlos Carneiro would later establish himself as an actor; His mannerisms, both vocal and on stage, were reminiscent, in fact, of another reference in rock-comedy in Portugal: Manuel João Vieira, from Ena Pá 2000.

‘Cromos’ music was, however, something more focused on pop than the ‘apunkalhado’ rock of Ena Pá 2000, as their big hit, mentioned above, clearly demonstrates. However, tracks like ‘Lobo Mau’ show that the band also knows how to be more aggressive and atmospheric when necessary, demonstrating that Mercurioucromos were perhaps more than they seemed. Whether or not that was the case, the truth is that the band really managed to ‘explode’ with their first album and respective ‘single’, which helped it catapult to sales of 60 thousand units, largely thanks to the constant rotation it enjoyed in the national radios.

Unfortunately, as happens with so many other bands, both in Portugal and abroad, the quintet that came from ‘a garage near Benfica’ never managed to replicate the meteoric success of that debut, appearing today as one of the great ‘one hit wonders’. ‘ of the history of modern Portuguese music.

There would still be a second album, released just a year after the ‘peak’ of success, but already too late to avoid falling on ‘deaf ears’; With nothing as strong as ‘Camionista Cantor’ to keep ‘Cromos’ relevant among their target audience, the album had modest sales, leaving the exclusive CD-single produced for Super Jovem magazine the honor of being the second best-known release of the band.

Still, Mercurioucromos had their moment in the History of Portuguese pop-rock, however fleeting it may have been, and earned their place on the list of nostalgic bands for a certain generation, which followed and experienced the same. For this reason, and because they had a song that any young school-age girl could hum in that year 1996, the Lisbon quintet deserves this mention.

Source: portugalanos90.blogs.sapo.pt/