Here is a great woman fronted Welsh language band started in 1986. Fflaps is pronounced 'Flaps' like you would in English. The Welsh language uses the single F to make a V sound, so the FF is the classic English F sound. I see them as a part of the lates 80s wave of nationalist, for lack of a better term, bands that started to spring up in the alternative scenes in Europe. I say 'nationalist' in terms of celebrating a minority linguistic tradition or culture from whatever mainstream culture they coexisted with. In the late 80s there was a surge of Basque language punk bands in Spain that established their own scene. Likewise, Wales had their own Welsh language/culture alternative, indie, punk scene going. Fflaps seems to be an anomaly in that they were bilingual and originally preformed songs in English and switched to Welsh shortly their inception, which was met with ambivalence from both the English and Welsh scene alike.
Fflaps music is raw, melodic and catchy, and creates a totally unique-to-them atmosphere. Their LPs are equally excellent and still retain their raw sound found on this EP. One of the best Welsh language bands I've heard for sure. Here is an excellent live video of them playing some television show...
Fflaps!
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