Vulpes or Vulpess was a punk rock group from Bilbao (Vizcaya, Basque Country) formed during the summer of 1982 in the Irala neighbourhood. Formed by the sisters Loles and Lupe Vázquez, daughters of trade unionists, Las Vulpes have frequently been associated with Barakaldo, because they were a typical musical product of the Left Bank of the Ría. In other words, they were a consequence of its state of mind, its tension and its landscape. The postcard was unsaleable: unemployment was becoming more and more entrenched in an industrial environment devastated by reconversion; union houses were functioning as incubators for workers' struggle; violence had become a daily and multiform phenomenon. In neighbouring Santurtzi, the punk trio Eskorbuto, the most famous local anti-heroes, were beginning to forge their myth: in a few years they were to become one of the many Basque gangs decimated by the incipient discovery of heroin.
Like many other young girls, Loles and Lupe woke up every morning thinking about how to get out of that quagmire. By the middle of the day, however, the mood had already been defeated: stationed in any square with their friends, swallowing hot beer together, the short-term mission was to exhaust the day in the least depressing way possible. And then came the music: a little as an escape valve and a little as a way to mold anger or boredom, which is how music always comes in these cases. Because on the Left Bank rock'n'roll was first and foremost a desperate measure, a vital necessity.
Like many other young girls, Loles and Lupe woke up every morning thinking about how to get out of that quagmire. By the middle of the day, however, the mood had already been defeated: stationed in any square with their friends, swallowing hot beer together, the short-term mission was to exhaust the day in the least depressing way possible. And then came the music: a little as an escape valve and a little as a way to mold anger or boredom, which is how music always comes in these cases. Because on the Left Bank rock'n'roll was first and foremost a desperate measure, a vital necessity.
Its members, aged between 17 and 21, were Loles Vázquez "Anarkoma Zorrita" (guitar), Mamen Rodrigo "Evelyn Zorrita" (vocals), Begoña Astigarraga "Ruth Zorrita" (bass) and Lupe Vázquez "Pigüy Zorrita" (drums, deceased in 1993).
They became famous on April 23, 1983 for appearing interpreting the song "Me gusta ser una zorra" in the TVE program Caja de ritmos, directed by Carlos Tena, which served as a showcase for the current music of the moment and was broadcasted during prime time. After the controversy they dissolved, only releasing the already mentioned single.
On November 29, 2003, and as a tribute to Lupe, who died in 1993, they began to give new concerts, some of them with notable public attendance. In 2005, they entered the studio to record the album they could not do at the time. For this they had the help of Joaquín "Killer" González on guitar. It was published the following year under the title Me gusta ser. In 2012 the live album Barbarela 83 was released.
