Spanish punk outfit Sudor rocks Second Empire

Four swift clicks of the drumsticks and an urgent count-off of "1-2-3-4!" to commence another blistering live punk-rock tune - common enough. It's certainly been heard for decades in the band-practice rooms and house-party performance spaces of West Philadelphia. But in crisp, Castilian Spanish? Such was the case Tuesday, when Spain's superfast power trio Sudor (Sweat) blazed through a 20-minute set at Second Empire, providing a dizzying display of top-shelf modern Euro-punk.

Sudor, of the Castilla-La Mancha region, is the second highly regarded Spanish hard-core trio this year to play the shifting West Philadelphia underground punk-plus circuit, following Barcelona's Suicidas, which played a memorable local gig in April. That performance was spearheaded by Suicidas' charismatic singer-guitarist Caro, a Chilean woman whose way with melody amid furious tempos came across in her southern South American-accented Spanish vocals (think the Italianate lilt and slur of Argentine speech and song, sped up.)

Ascendant Philly quartet Chondria opened Tuesday for Sudor. The group's four women have developed a distinct sound of heavy bottom-end - bass and tom-toms throbbing - with a jangle-slash dual-guitar attack. Their 10-minute set offered live takes of their five-song demo, now up on Bandcamp (bit.ly/1HRTMFG), including the mountingly frenetic opener "Agita."

Next month, Chondria will be opening for more Spanish-speaking international touring bands when Mexico City's Cadenaxo and Colombia's Lupus visit Philadelphia after playing the Latino Punk Fest at the Acheron in Brooklyn.

Hailing from Toledo, Sudor's singer-guitarist Héctor, bassist Cuellar, and pacesetting drummer Koke (mononyms only) have grown ever tighter and quicker over a decade together. Their lightning-strike style makes the Ramones seem downright lead-footed and even surpasses the speed of prime Bad Brains.

Early on, the trio were positively influenced by the pioneering Spanish hard-core band Eskorbuto (Scurvy), an iconoclastic Basque punk outfit from Bilbao that ran for 19 years, starting in 1980. (Sudor still covers its tunes at times.) Like Spain's other punk bands, Sudor has expressed in its songs ample domestic discontent, including protest over police-state practices, arguably lingering after the nation's four-decade fascist regime under (still dead) dictator Francisco Franco.

A highlight Tuesday was the tune "Noches en Plaza de Castilla." It related the habitual behavioral pattern of Madrid police in rousting individuals with little provocation, taking them on long cop-car rides, and dropping them off far from home up in the Spanish capital's northernmost area.

Sudor's performance chops are difficult to convey on a page, such is their blinding speed and focus. Exploding with the politically charged opener "Chicos del Régimen" ("Regime Boys") from 2011's Ganas de Vomitar LP (Urge To Vomit), the Spaniards then drew from their (best-yet) new album Enamorado de la Muerte Juvenil (Enamored of Juvenile Death) for the rest of their thoroughly invigorating tocada or "gig." It was all supremely enjoyable, even with all the summer sweat generated.