MARIACHI EL BRONX – MARIACHI EL BRONX
Imagine this, one minute you are hearing the trash of Black Flag et al throbbing and screeching from your offspring’s bedroom, the next the gracefully plucked guitarrón and trumpet driven mariachi march. It was bound to confuse teenagers and their parents alike, when everyone (under 25)’s favorite LA hardcore band El Bronx decided to record and release a Mariachi album. What better a punk statement than to forsake all that you know and venture into truly dangerous territory; and by God they pull it off. With a touch of Morricone in the trumpets, and a large dose of the traditional Hispanic sounds of LA, Mariachi El Bronx takes a hardcore passion and reshapes it via a genuine love for and of Mariachi music. With Vincent Hidalgo, son of David Hidalgo (Los Lobos, Latin Playboys) having joined El Bronx in late 2007, there was some musical pedigree to base this project on and Matt Caughthran’s vocals are full and convincing: “The dead can dance if they want romance/All I need is some air,” or equally unforgiving: “Please quit asking Jesus for help/Go out and find it yourself “. “Between fields of fire and miles to go / We will find our way home / We will find out way home”. Now they just have to decide which home to go to.
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