1979–1983: Early years On 9 December 1979, inspired by the
British punk movement, La Polla Records did their first gig at the only pub from Salvatierra, with all the town's people at the show, in words of Evaristo: "to see what the fools of the village made". In 1981, the band performed and recorded their first demo called
Banco Vaticano, never released officially. During this time, the band performed some shows in Basque Country and the rest of the Spain territories, although the group's popularity was low because they had yet to embrace punk on the level seen in the UK. The band recorded their first EP called
¿Y ahora qué? ("
So Now What?") in 1983, containing four songs, under the indie label Oihuka, where they managed to draw the attention of producer
Marino Goñi.
1984–1989: First albums and breakthrough success in Spain By 1984, La Polla Records began frequently playing large shows, also releasing their first LP
Salve, to Oihuka label and produced by Marino Goñi. The album was certified Gold, but the group rejected the disc. The following years they recorded
Revolución (1985), with Abel Murua replacing Maleguin on the bass in this album. That same year played in the Euskal Rock festival at Barcelona, along with
Kortatu,
RIP and Cicatriz. In early 1986, La Polla Records played at the San Isidro Festival in Madrid, attended by a big audience. However, riots almost erupted between the police and the fans. La Polla Records began to stage performances on their own, but one of them ended up in an incident in which Txarly was seriously injured, forcing the band to play with just one guitar until early 1988. In 1987, under their own label, Txaca Records, they released
No somos nada, but did not come in for good reviews. Following this release, La Polla got back to record label Oihuka with
Donde se habla to critical and public acclaim (1988), boosting their sales again. In 1989 their first live LP album ensued,
En directo, to celebrate the band's 10th Anniversary.
1990–1994: International tours, new successes and lawsuit The 1990s began with a new album:
Ellos dicen mierda, nosotros amén ("They say shit, we say Amen") in 1990, which was played in Europe and Latin America for the first time, in Mexico as the only leg. At year-end, released
Los jubilados, and in 1991 the second EP
Barman. In 1992, published the seventh album
Negro, although was roughly divided among the fans, and
Hoy es el futuro ("Today is the Future") in 1993, which was better received, and toured by Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. In 1994 the band was sued by Ángel, a former band sound engineer since 1991, and then a tribunal forbade their use of the name La Polla Records. The band ignored the sentence and released
Bajo presión under the forbidden name.
1996–2001: New name, 20th anniversary and Bocas In 1996, however, they changed their name and simply became La Polla, receiving a new contract with GOR Records. Under this new name released
Carne para la picadora. A new world tour by Europe and South America, followed a new live album
La Polla en tu recto, released in 1998 and the last made by GOR label. In 1999, they celebrated their 20th anniversary recording
Toda la puta vida igual, published by Maldito Records. Shortly after, Txarly left the band in January 2000, due to health problems, replaced by Jokin, a former member of
M.C.D. This new line-up released
Bocas in 2001, with another extended world tour.
2002–2003: Death of Fernandito, reformation and break-up In 2002, La Polla were still actively playing when, quite suddenly, Fernandito died of a
heart attack on September 3. The band cancelled the remaining concerts of the tour. After the loss of their drummer, Jokin was fired and the vacancy was completed with Txiki and Tripi on guitar and drums respectively. After some shows in 2003, including the Viña Rock, they released their last album:
El último (el) de la Polla (literally, "La Polla's last") on 3 August of that same year, and with the release of this CD, it was published by the official separation of the group. After the split, Evaristo released a book named "Por los Hijos lo que sea" where he told stories and anecdotes that told many of the same messages as his songs. Then, Evaristo founded
Gatillazo in 2005, with Txiki, Tripi (his former band-mates)and Xabi (former RIP bass guitar) and continued performing and recording new material since. ==Legacy==