(Photo Courtesy of White Drugs)Imagine yourself on a 1980s BMW motorcycle headed through South America, ready to take on any adventure that leaps out at you in the most “Indiana Jones” way possible. Now, imagine the soundtrack to your journey, because it’s unlikely in your fantasy that you are struggling with language barriers — or anything for that matter — but are adventuring to the rumbling rhythms of mariachi.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles hardcore band “The Bronx” tapped into its rhythmic alter ego “Mariachi El Bronx” to release a third album, “III.”
Leading off the album is “New Beat.” A fast-paced song with a heavy emphasis on the brass section and lyrical arrangement reminiscent of The Gipsy King’s cover of “Hotel California,” the song hits all the mariachi tropes. From sensitive lyrics to harmonious choruses broaching sincere topics of war and death through discourse on religion, “New Beat” has it all. Initially it was interesting, but as the album went on, the song started to resemble 2008–09 reggae band “The Supervillains” in ways I do not believe the band intended.
From here, the tone of the album stays pretty much the same, with a few fun bumps in the road. “Wildfires” is generally the same song as the one before it, but uses an alt-rock-indie-folk sounding chorus to drive it home. This same feeling would be hit later on in the album with “High Tide.”
For most of the album, El Bronx generously uses the brass, but the strengths of the album are in the percussion. Each song features a nice, soothing rolling drumbeat that keeps the song alive much more than any other part. This is especially evident in “Sticks and Stones.”
My biggest problem with the album is its inability to get outside of its own idea. To be frank, it’s boring. It seems like El Bronx turned on a mariachi radio station for a few days and cashed in on all of the tired aspects of the music style. Rarely does the band make any leaps toward something innovative, beyond the original concept of a hardcore band doing this type of music.
That’s not to say the entire album is a total bore — just most of it. “Eternal” is the song where they finally took their feet off the brass gas pedal and let the guitars and percussion breathe a bit. What is great about this track is how cinematic it is. In letting the more subtle instruments do their work, the song creates a scene in the listener’s head far more than any of the other tracks.
What always felt like a quirky gimmick has become one of the band’s biggest exports. With “III,” El Bronx nails the mariachi sound, but does little to go beyond the concept of a hardcore-turned-mariachi band.
Ask the reporter to join your mariachi group at zjenning@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @humanzane
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