Happy Día De La Independencia: A Mexican Rock Primer
By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
As we noted in May, Wednesday marked Mexican Independence Day, which kicked off at midnight with the traditional Grito de La Independencia by not only President Felipe Calderón, but all executive office-holders, right down to the local level.
But rather than mark the date here with a history lesson, I want to do something fun – if you haven’t encountered Mexican rock – and before anybody asks, yes, Juanes may be dreamy, but he’s also from Colombia – here’s a few artists to check out:
Kinky (pictured above)
The skinny: The Monterey natives have come the closest to crossing over into the U.S. market, as they’ve played the Coachella festival and had their songs featured on American series like Nip/Tuck, Dexter and Gossip Girl. They also had the chutzpah to cover Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio.”
Maldita Vecindad
The skinny: I’ve always referred to this band as our national equivalent of Public Enemy – listening to their debut album was as eye-opening an experience for me as Fear Of A Black Planet, as Maldita took on things from a street-level point of view that was, for a long time, very rare in the Mexican music scene. Since they’ve stopped recording, you could argue that Molotov has inherited the band’s mantle as social commentators – check out (NSFW) Frijolero – but for a snapshot of the Mexico City street life, nothing and nobody can top “Un Gran Circo.”
Maná
The skinny: If Molotov and Maldita are the fighters, these guys are the lovers, and 22 million album sales, four Grammys, five Latin Grammys and a guest-spot on Santana’s Supernatural album confirm their spot as the country’s premier date-rock group. Their Unplugged album was a success for MTV and their 2006 album, Amar Es Compartir, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
Cafe Tacuba
The skinny: Tacuba and Maldita are contemporaries, and like MV, Tacuba has shown an ability to vault from genre to genre – it’s just as comfortable creating epic soundscapes like the eight-minute Volver A Comenzar as making traditional instrumentation sound new again in songs like “Ingrata.” Their shows are also not for the easily-tired: when I saw them in San Diego last year, they came back for five encores.
Nortec Collective
The skinny: Not a band, per se, but a group of DJs who unite techno and norteño music, earning them spots doing remixes for Beck, bills alongside Beck and Basement Jaxx, and performances in London, Paris and the Kennedy Center. On a personal note, Nortec kicked off a three-band bill with Kinky and Tacuba in 2003 that is still one of my all-time Top three shows.
As this post could go on wayyyy too long for my Editrix, let me close out by offering the following links so you can check out just a few more standout artists:
* Julieta Venegas: Technically a Long Beach native, but raised in Tijuana.
* Hello Seahorse!: Dreamy-sounding up-and-comers
* Pistolera: NYC-based alterna-folkers with a kick
* Mexican Institute of Sound: Camilo Lara’s feel-good one-man project has also gotten his music on U.S. TV shows.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
paul wrote:
there’s a great noise/punk band from monterrey called los llamarada
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 7:11 am ¶
Afro-chan wrote:
Hell yeah! El Rock Mexicano!!! Kinky is great! I have lots of Cafe Tacuba. Years ago they were on Letterman and I was so shocked and happy to see them.
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 8:36 am ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:
Hey very cool. I’ve never heard of any of these musicians.
Did many Americans of Mexican descent celebrating Mexican Independence Day yesterday?
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 10:41 am ¶
Elton wrote:
¡Viva Maná! I’m really happy for you, Bonham, and I’m a let you finish, but Alex “El Animál” Gonzalez is one of the greatest drummers of all time.
I had the incredible fortune to see Maná perform on their world tour in Spain in 2003. Earlier that year, I had just become a huge fan and did a report on them for Spanish class, and then I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 11:01 am ¶
inkst wrote:
That Frijolero video was fantastic! I had heard the song, but not seen the video before. Man, does anyone else just really miss cool, creative music videos?
Thanks for this post. These are great bands!
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 11:39 am ¶
DigitalCoyote wrote:
I was going to ask something stupid about why Tito & Tarantula and Los Lobos were missing from the list before I remembered they were out of L.A. ^_^;;; The other bands I can think of off the top of my head, Green Car Motel and Calexico, are from the States, too. I feel like a bad person.
That said, I’m digging the cover by Kinky.
I was introduced to Mana in high school by my Spanish teacher. Despite being raised on R&B and averse to ballads as a whole, I think “Vivir Sin Aire” is the only sappy/romantic song I could listen to over and over.
PS. Molotov and Fermin IV make this black girl happy, too.
Maybe it’s because I had a healthy dose of Public Enemy and NWA mixed in to the diet of classics, soul, jazz, and rock my parents fed me as a child.
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 12:28 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
Cafe Tacuba is one of my favorite bands of all time. I got a chance to see them here in dc a couple of years ago.
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 12:46 pm ¶
Ric Reyes wrote:
Maldita Vecindad = Public Enemy? No way! besides they’ve only made one decent record in like 20 years? acool ass record tho’
Molotov stopped being social commentators after their first record, if they ever were
Maná? they’re like, I dunno, the mexican Bon Jovi
I.M.S. is getting too wacky for my taste
Los Tacubos rule
Posted 17 Sep 2009 at 4:19 pm ¶
GüeraLola wrote:
WHY DIDN’T ANYONE EMAIL me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m rely into some pop and Alternative Latino music like Son Juan and Moenia and Natalia y La Forquetina, Molotov, I love Lila Downs (Check them out y’all)
Posted 18 Sep 2009 at 8:40 pm ¶
Liz wrote:
Las ultrasónicas are great too! I love “Gracias Mamá” and, really all their songs! Here’s their Myspace. Riot Grrl lives!
Posted 19 Sep 2009 at 1:45 am ¶
Paz wrote:
What a great way to commemorate Mexico’s independence. Love Kinky, but I think their earliest work is the best. [e.g., Soun Tha Mi Primer Amor – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX4UbFPENxg
And I would have beaten someone over the head had you not included Cafe Tacuba.
Also how about the legendary El Tri? You can’t beat lyrics like “Somos los unicos capazes de reirnos de nuestra desgracia” (We Mexicans are the only ones capable of laughing at our disgraceful state.)
Posted 19 Sep 2009 at 4:12 am ¶
Afro-chan wrote:
GueraLola I love Lila Downs, too! Her voice is spectacular. This post made me bust out El Gran Silencio and La Dosis.
Posted 19 Sep 2009 at 11:59 pm ¶
Adrianna wrote:
! love these band , listen to mana as a teenager el muelle de samblas is my fave man song .Eres from cafe tacuba is beautiful Julieta is my girl i love when she bust out the accordion.. Please more post like this!
Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 11:09 pm ¶
Shae wrote:
Thanks for this. I’ve just recently been getting into Latin music, and while a couple of these were familiar, most were brand new and great discoveries. Love Molotov so far.
Posted 26 Sep 2009 at 6:46 pm ¶