Mexican pop rocks

May 1, 2011

Mexican Pop Rocks! Rock your Cinco de Mayo with these South of the Border bands
By Kristi Kates
Mexico isn’t necessarily the first country you might think to look into while searching for up and coming new indie pop and rock bands. But in recent years, and especially with the ever-growing influence of the internet, Mexico’s been fertilizing its own burgeoning crop of Mexican indie-rockers, and there are plenty of them cool enough for school - so, for our Cinco de Mayo issue, we’ve rounded up a few of the best for you to take a listen to, complete with a starting suggested single. Disfrutar de la música!

LOS FANCY FREE
Born in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, singer/songwriter Martin Thulin moved with his parents to Sweden as a youth, and returned to his homeland of Mexico in his later years. This makes for a pretty unique mix of Mexican-electro-pop music, influenced as it is by such a broad geographic range. Thulin’s tracks are reminiscent of ‘80s bands like the Human League and Soft Cell; Thulin himself reminds one of an elegant, Mexican David Bowie.
Suggested Single: “Voltage is Ok”

JOTDOG
Only formed in 2009, this Mexico City synth-pop band is also influenced in part by the music of the ‘80s (so much so that they recorded a version of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” for their debut album), primarily writing songs about romantic relationships set to festival-pop rhythms. In spite of their short career to date, they’ve already snagged nominations for the MTV Latin America Video Music Awards and the Latin Grammys.
Suggested Single: “Hasta Contar a Mil”

XYX
Mou Ortiz and Anhelo Escalante make up the noise-punk duo XYX, which hails from Monterrey, Mexico. Only two years old (the band itself, not the members), the pair of musicians - one on drums, and one on bass, with vocals - load up their respective instruments with piles of effects units (they’re particularly fond of delay), and charge through their tunes with the energy of those extra-sugary pink-frosted Mexican cupcakes.
Suggested Single: “Momento Acido Contemporaneo”

CHIKITA VIOLENTA
Mexico City indie-rockers Chikita Violenta are a quartet inspired by some of America’s most notable underground bands, such as Sonic Youth, Pavement, and Built to Spill. After snagging producer Dave Newfeld to helm a couple of their discs, attention on the band began to increase, enabling them to collaborate (to good measure) with such musical peers as Broken Social Scene, crafting even more of their anthemic, arena-ready pop-rock.
Suggested Single: “Laydown”

LOS DYNAMITE
Another Mexico City-based band, Los Dynamite take their musical cues from such East Coast post-punk bands as Interpol and The Strokes, singing in English and cheekily naming their debut album Greatest Hits. Frontman Diego Solorzano favors vintage wear such as leather jackets and old-school sunglasses on stage, while the music of his band focuses on jittery, agitated rhythms teamed up with hooky melodies and a city-fied retro approach.
Suggested Single: “Katatonic”

MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND
Helmed by Camilo Lara - who also just happens to be the head of EMI Mexico - MIOS fuses together chunks of sound into electronic musical patchworks, blending classic Mexican folk music samples from the ‘20s-’60s with various vocal samples, vinyl scratching, and beat loops. MIOS’ newest album, Pinata, even includes a little collaboration with someone else famed for experimental music - Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz.
Suggested Single: “Escribeme Pronto”