And I'm not talking about the Soda Stereo reunion.
Nacional Records just put out two records that should have gotten me, a veteran of the rock en español "movement," all misty-eyed. Did they make me relive the glory days, when several cities had active scenes, La Banda Elástica mattered and MTV América Latina made us feel like North and South America was united under one rockero flag? Sí y no.
First up is a greatest-hits compilation of Todos Tus Muertos. For those who never went harder than Maná, this B.A. counterpart to the Bad Brains might not be too familiar. Like the DC hardcore gods, TTM pulled off the unlikely marriage of fast punk, politics and reggae roots (the two singers, Fidel Nadal and Pablito Molina, were bona fide rastafari Black Argentines). I first caught on to these guys through Mano Negra's Casa Babylon, where Fidel and bassist Felix Gutierrez were among the collaborators.
You start off with a band that put out four thrashin' records as well as intense live performances (before they started exploring the softer side of reggae), and you're bound to have good things in a greatest-hits release. The best songs, like "Andáte," the batucada-backed "Sé Que No/Requebra," the hardcore rewrite of the Mexican Revolutiona song "Tu Alma Mía/Adelita," and "Hijo Nuestro," dedicated to Augusto Sandino, are drawn from the brilliant Dale Aborigen (1994), which was already a bit of a best-of, with a few songs that had been released in the previous two records.
But as much fun as I had going down memory lane, I'm not entirely clear what prompted the re-issue. An acrimonious split led the band to go dormant at the end of the 1990s. It came back into action in 2004, sans Fidel, with more circumscribed tours, basically in its home turf and limited forays to Europe.
There appear to be no scheduled U.S. tours for this year (the band is headed to Spain in April and Mexico in May), so it's hard to figure out how they'd catch on again in this country without live shows (which is what these days gets you the MySpace hits and legal downloads). I do hope that the re-release turns on some younger mocosos. If that's all it does, it's all good.
I really wanted to like Señor Flavio's Supersaund 2012. Since Los Fabulosos Cadillacs basically called it quits in 2001, I've been missing the Clash covers, the politically-fueled laments, the melancholy ragamuffin party chants. But Flavio, the bass player and composer for the band, saunds lonely despite the tasty horns, crisp drums and wholesome skank.
The lead-off tune "Malito" (which echoes "Mal Bicho" from Rey Azúcar) makes the most of Flavio's limited voice. And it's hard for me to resist a tune called "Lucha Libre Lovers." Pato Machete's vocals on "Tropicana 50" inject some needed tension into the mix. Flavio's contribution to the neo-cumbia canon, "Cristina," has some good moments, though I'll be happier when it's remixed. But the mix feels a little thin, missing the emotive breaks in Vicentico's voice, the pan-Latin voices and beats that always dropped in on Fabulosos records.
Vicentico I think has taken a more intriguing turn. Check a collaboration he did with Calle 13, "Combo Imbécil de papas y refresco." This was done for a Latin American Sony-sponsored show called FusionA2, which brings together two bands and asks them to do original songs together.
But like the best of pranksters, the song not only kicks ass, but is political and bites the hand that feeds it. (The chorus is "Baila o disparo!" and one rhyme manages to trash the U.S., French women, Walt Disney, McDo's, and Britney Spears.) [Thanks to NYRemezcla for tipping us off to this kickass video.]
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