Los Secretos Essentials

In the late '70s, three Urquijo brothers from Madrid—Javier, Enrique and Álvaro—got inspired by Western folk-rockers like The Byrds and Neil Young to start the band Cough. That soon turned into Los Secretos, one of Spain's premier bands. Their cascading, mellow and acoustic sound, soaked in wide-open-spaces American country, was often given sweeping, swelling production. They're fond of the guitar jangle of power pop and '80s college rock as well, and you may detect echoes of Warren Zevon, Nick Lowe, Gram Parsons, Ry Cooder and Peter Gabriel—all of whom Los Secretos have covered.