FALLAS

Have you ever said to yourself "Man, I want eleven bursts of blown out, late '90s Mexican punk!" I have...and if I don't reach for the ODIO tape (let's be honest, the ODIO is really for those grindier moments) then I'm probably gonna pull out this FALLAS banger. Eleven bursts of distorted mania from Guadalajara with jerky rhythms and multi vocal shouts...and an intensity that is very raw and extremely pure. You know what I want? I want the guitars that start "Anárquico es el Pensamiento" to be my sonic spirit guide....because fukk are they heavy. So yeah....get dirty. 

MUSICA PARA LA RESISTENCIA

MISERÄBLE

Remember when this is what Mondays were all about? Fists in the air, DBeating like maniacs to give ourselves the mental and physical energy needed to face the horrible world we live in? Noise and mangel at maximum, waiting for the guitar to ring out so we can hear the steady tupa-tupa of the toms before the riff kicks back in? Well....those Mondays aren't gone, my friends. You're living one right now and Mexico's MISERÄBLE are flying the DBeat flag at full mast with no pretense and no shame. Let the wind brush the stench of life off of you, and let your fists fly. 

DBEAT MANIACS

POLO PEPO Y LA SOCIEDAD CORRUPTA

Killer '80s Mexican punk, but from 1990. Sometimes they remind me of REZILLOS, the vocals flirt the lazy nasal drawl of PLASTIC BERTRAND while spewing snotty early EBBA GRÖN attitude, and when they wind it up and let it rip? Well, punk rules, ok? But never mind my blithering, just blast "Ya Es Delito Ser Punk" and you won't care about comparisons. 

YA ES DELITO SER PUNK

ZOTZ // KURRAKÄ

Mexico City's finest dark punks meet Austin's fiercest dark punks. These two were made to be on the same cassette. 

ZOTZ // KURRAKÄ

RASH

2002 Mexican crust punk...with the emphasis on punk. Samples, long ass intros, bare bones riffs, massive production, and when the drums kick in at the 1:37 mark of "Los Días del Casos" I am fukkn sold. And then less than 30 seconds later comes the guitar solo(s) from outer motherfukkn space....and I'm really sold. And that's just the first track. There are 14 more to go....

...GORELANDIA

ODIO

This one.....fukk. It's just pure and unencumbered brutality. Light speed rippers with black metal guitars churning out blurred fastcore/crust that gives zero fukks. How many fukks? Like I want to piss my pants when I hear this shit and ODIO does not actually give one shit fukk. None. Because they are too busy laying waste to everything. It's from outer fukkn space, this tape - the high vocals are demonic and the low vocals are like short, choppy versions of guttural crust vocals. Seriously though: listen to "Miseria." It's the most bizarre, out of left field shit ever, and you NEED this shit. I mean, if you like to be brutalized. And you're here, so.....

Monterrey, NL // MEXICO // 2003

DOOMSDAY

I have reverted to uploading files to OpenDrive (for now). Issues with Box seem to be persisting....for visitors: "older" links (and older means anything earlier than a few days ago) should be active via mobile devices or tablets for whatever bizarro reason, but Box files (which make up almost all of the posts since 2013) seem to be unavailable to desktop fiends. I've updated the CINDERBLOCK, BRAINOIL and CIBORGUE links because those are the most recent (and they are also all badass). As long as you continue....I will continue...

INHUMANIDAD

A filthy low end churn from Guadalajara, this 1998 tape slams you to the ground right out of the gate. Fidelity cast away in favor of power and brutality, this band is light years beyond relentless. Off the rails crust with maximum speed and indescribable intensity...INHUMANIDAD were a random discovery, but I want fukkn more!

DEL HOMBRE Y PARA EL HOMBRE: FACTOR #1

LOS LOCOS

Killer collection of Latin American punk rock and dark punk. Heaps of bands I was unfamiliar with (8 BOLAS, TODOS TUS ROUERTOS, POLO PEPO) and some that most studious punks will be familiar with (INOCENTES, AS MERCENARIAS, LEUZEMIA, ALERTA ROJA). Top tracks: LUXURIA's "Luxuria Insatisfecha" and the hopelessly out of tune untitled creamer from SIZE. First side is punk, and then the flip ventures into the new wave/goth sounds of the '80s...this is why mix tapes (still) rule.

LOS LOCOS - A Latino Punk Mixtape For The Punks

ZOTZ

Murky and ominous deathpunk from Mexico. Forceful tracks from kids who know exactly what they are trying to achieve. "Christy" is the banger, a lurching and uncomfortable number with a tempo that surges, desperate vocals and guitar leads that put you on edge waiting for something to go wrong...nothing goes wrong. Everything goes right. This is their second demo from 2014, plus an EP released earlier this year and a third demo that just dropped a few weeks ago, so you've likely got some catching up to do, and i f you're feeling it, then ZOTZ are going to hit the spot. 

ULTIMA NOCHE

ANTI-SEX

Played with these punx in DF last December, and the energy was just right. Nothing I can say describe the feeling of seeing them live except to say that they were punk as fukk and they just killed. A female, all power, and sometimes, determination triumphs over all. And I truly hope I get to see ANTI-SEX again.

¿POR QUÉ NO TE CALLAS?

MALCRIA // VDS

MALCRIA have a weird edge, like there's something they aren't telling us. It's forceful hardcore with engaging song construction, but then that bass almost sounds like it wants to be in a goth band and the singer sounds like he could be in an Oi! band if he wanted to be but then they just rip through a mid-paced stomp like "Histeria" and I can't picture them playing any brand of punk other than this - because this is theirs. VDS are a little more raw and unpredictable, but no less powerful. Blasts and whirlwind hardcore with multiple vocals, plenty of dirt unsuccessfully trying to hide the hooks that populate these creamers. "No Sé" is the jam of this 2014 tape, and these two Mexico City bands deserve your attention.

MALCRIA // VDS 

MUERTE

This demo floored me. It's everything that deathpunk should be...which is mostly to say that it's fukkn punk. Dark, terrifying punk. Hailing from Mexico City, MUERTE come from a lineage that includes INSERVIBLES, HOG and TERCER MUNDO and absolutely live up to whatever expectations that lineage might bring. There's a brief moment at the start of "Nadie" when it sounds like they are going to settle into a goth punk groove for the final minutes of the demo, but then a horrid squall six seconds into the track crushes that thought. Instead, that final track is an aggressive, mournful burner that leaves you drained as the vocals trail off....a suitable conclusion.

MUERTE

The folks who saw them live on the recent North American jaunt are very fortunate, and their full length on SPHC is every bit as good as this demo would suggest.

ASSÄSSINI

Just under six minutes of raw, bombastic hardcore from Mexico that sounds exactly like the cover implies. Driven by thundering drums and hollow, hoarse vocals that drown out the wash of guitars, ASSÄSSINI are fierce and hideous. Which is just how you like it.

ASSÄSSINI

CADENAXO

I've been in several bands and played lots of different shows in different places. It would be impossible for me to say "this one show was the best show I've ever played," or been to, or seen, or whatever, because there are so many different factors that make shows appeal to different parts of the ears, the brain and the soul. But the show RITUAL CONTROL played in Mexico City in December was right up there....everything was right, it was an awesome night, and CADENAXO was a huge part of it. We knew we were gonna play with TERCER MUNDO and MUERTE, so obviously we were stoked, but the criminally short blast from the final ESPECIE FALLIDA song when we arrived (we were late) let me know that this night was going to be extra good. ANTI SEX were stellar, SACRIFICIO shredded...and then there was CADENAXO. I mean, perhaps it's just hardcore...right? But sometimes there's something different and, maybe it's just because you aren't expecting whatever it is you're about to get (and for whatever reason, we were NOT expecting CADENAXO that night), and everything just clicks. These kids bash out perfectly executed US hardcore, nailing all the breakdowns, all the guitar breaks, the harmonics, the intros, the fukkn power of hardcore - and never once do they feel, sound, or seem like they are going through the motions. Sink your teeth into the breakdown in "Prejucios," and then dig the simple (perfect) bass in the intro to "Reaccionar" (naw, bruh - peep that whole damn track, cuz the mosh in that one melts the whole rest of this tape, foo!) - these fukkn maniacs know exactly what they are doing. I'm not telling you that you have to get into this shit, because you are your own human and you will get into whatever the fukk you want to get into...I'm just telling you that this tape is really good if you like hardcore. And I'm telling you that when I saw them play in DF....? That was sick.

CADENAXO

HELLKVLT MEXICA

Filthy, dark, discordant, bleak, cavernous death/black metal. An absolutely excruciating listen, so much so that you will (almost) be glad that Males Antiguos is only two tracks because most ears would not be able to tolerate more than that. Pure and primal power on the jaw-on-the-fucking-floor level. Essential sounds from Mexico.

MALES ANTIGUOS

MAQUNIA MUERTE

Raw, lo-fi, fukkd hardcore from Mexico. This is what you want, isn't it....punk?

MAQUINA MUERTE

OVERPOWERING

Oppressively distorted drum machine crust/grind from Mexico. A true challenge for those of you who can't get enough of the noise...are you up for a challenge?

OVERPOWERING

You know what I'm doing today? I'm on a beach in Puerto Rico. I might go snorkeling. Who schedules a tropical vacation in the middle of tour? NO STATIK, that's who.

DISCORDIA

I saw DISCORDIA a few times in the late '90s and they were never short of amazing, and I listened to this tape habitually when I first got my hands on it. Dominated by DISCLOSE style guitars years before it was the cool thing to do and overpowering vocals, these dudes from Tijuana made a fucking insane ruckus that translates perfectly a decade and a half later. Distorted and furious rampaging metallic crust at its absolute finest - volume up until your ears hurt.

DETERIORARSE

Not coincidentally, dudes from DISCORDIA have spent the last decade or so in BUMBKLAATT, whose last LP has just been given the deluxe treatment by Prank Records. The record is a total stunner, and should not be overlooked. 

TU SILENCIO AHOGA MIS GRITOS

Ten band compilation featuring Spanish language punk from all over Latin America with a token European submission from SIN DIOS, not at all surprising considering the time (released in 2000) and the political focus (anarchism). FUN PEOPLE (Argentina), RECICLAJE, @PATIA NO, LOS RESIDUOS (Venezuela), DESARME and NIQUITOWN (Colombia), ACTITUD SUBVERSIVA (Puerto Rico), VANTROI (Mexico)...and oh yeah BANDA JACHIS is from Spain too. Earnest melodic punk, a few hardcore burners and a handful of tracks that came as complete surprises (NIQUITOWN's "El Cambio Es Ahora" is by far my favorite jam on the tape). The whole thing was released by Noeske Records to benefit El Libertario, a Venezuelan anarchist periodical.

TU SILENCIO AHOGA MIS GRITOS:

El Anarquismo En America Latina

AVICHINES

I just got this 2010 demo via punk post from a very nice dude...a dude who apparently has very excellent taste. Rafael likes his punk raw and rudimentary, and Mexico's AVICHINES fit that bill perfectly...hopelessly addictive poppy sounds filtered by speed and (non calculated) distortion, it's like bouncy '80s Spanish punks discovering THE GRUMPIES. Forget that nonsensical faux pogo with the calculated distortion on the guitar, this shit is catchy and raw without the posturing. It is also very very punk. Like you.

NADA QUE HACER