Having spun off from the veteran Los Angelino punk outfit The Bronx, the rich and vibrant Mexican roots experience Mariachi El Bronx returns after a decade-long recording hiatus with IV, a 12-song set that rekindles the unbridled spirit essence of their previous work. It’s available February 13 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital through ATO Records.
The name Mariachi El Bronx solidifies the connection between the Cali punk rock of The Bronx, who sprang onto the scene by releasing the first of six eponymous albums in 2003, with the musical style outlined in the offshoot’s moniker. This connection doesn’t signify a genre hybridization but rather highlights that punk and mariachi share a like-minded sensibility.
Of course, punks have been branching out for decades, sometimes via hybrids (or through what can be described as form destruction) and in other examples by embodying the true, unvarnished nature of a style, even if it risks (and often deliberately strives for) the alternatingly fascinating and perplexing impression of anachronism.
Mariachi El Bronx is vocalist Matt Caughthran, guitarist and accordionist Joby J. Ford, drummer Jared Shavelson, trumpeters Keith Douglas and Brad Magers, violinist Ray Suen, jarana player Ken Horne, and guitarrón player Vincent Hidalgo. What they achieve on IV extends from their prior efforts, retaining the heft and spark of the mariachi style without registering as a throwback.
Production value has a lot to do with it. Opener “Forgive or Forget” is bright and bold but not unnecessarily polished. And the band plays with a sheer enthusiasm that ensures that nobody’s going to confuse the track (or what follows) for an archival recording. “Bandoleros” leans heavily on the accordion, but it’s accompanied by an infectious group fluidity and appealing rhythmic intensity (they really pound it out for the finale).
Brass lines burst forth with utter gusto amid the string strum frenzy of “Songbird.” Next is “All Things,” which shifts gears but works up to a powerful beauty move via the emotional vigor in the singing. “El Dorado” is a squeezebox-driven stomp laced with storytelling flair, and “Fools Gold” really leans into the dynamic grandeur of the vocalizing. Then, “The Takers” shifts to an instrumental focus, though full-throated singing does enter the equation.
The bowed strings soar in “RIP Romeo,” and “Gamblers Prayer” is another story song that underscores the overall attentiveness to detail. Often, bands get the sound right but then settle for clichés in the lyrics. Not here, even as “El Borracho” toys with the familiar theme of the exuberant barfly faced with last call. From there, “Tie You Down” is fleet and pretty, and closer “Into the Afterlife” dishes some sweet electric guitar lines.
IV is a welcome return for Mariachi El Bronx as they continue to hit the right combo of sound, song, and up-to-date urgency.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
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