The Bronx Wear Their Sombreros Well

El Bronx isn’t a sonic shower of punk nihilism; it’s a flamboyant step outside the box of what anyone might expect from one of the hardest-hitting hardcore punk bands to ever come out of Los Angeles, but the concept is a sensible one.

“Mariachi is every bit as much of a soundtrack to southern California as punk,” explains frontman Matt Caughthran, and he’s right; with an exploding hispanic population, denying the cultural impact to the area the band rose from would be a stroke of outright racism. On the contrary, El Bronx is an educated celebration of the many facets of mariachi music, the most well-known being Norteno as well as Jorocho, Wasteka, Bolero and Corridos.

The eloquence and subtleties of the genre are supplemented by new addition Vincent Hidalgo, son of Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo. Between the brass blasts and guitarrón chop-strums indicative of the genre, the album is a rare stylistic tribute from a band who found themselves enchanted after fucking with the formula a bit during a scheduled television appearance back in 2006. “It all started as a way to flip the electric goes acoustic performance garbage, because that’s never good,” Matt explains . “We were invited to play live on television but decided that a cheesy acoustic version of our song was not what we wanted to do.“

Caughthran’s vocal range has expanded, and he’s not riding a limited low-end melody to get through the sentiments as he did on Dirty Leaves (off Bronx II) – there’s real range here, and the melodic thread of the album carries a significantly increased variation than we’ve heard from him before. The harmonies in Cell Mates and My Brother The Gun are gorgeous, the somber spiritual pleas of Holy are tender, earnest and entirely committed.

The taste of Mexican culture is strong, and the octane undercurrent that’s closer to the band’s original sound threatens to shake loose at any given moment – yet it never does. It’s a dangerously enticing flirtation with the punk aesthetic, and pogoes a remarkably thin line between tribute and all-out immersion. Tucked amidst the tales of love, longing and loneliness are thorny lyrical gems such as  on album highlight Silver Or Lead, where Caughthran takes a swipe at the hands-to-heaven approach to life: “Quit asking Jesus for help, and go out and find it yourself,” he croons.

“It was interesting cause we added a member to play the guitarron, and he’s the only Mexican guy in the band,” guitarist Joby Ford told us last year. “So it’s like… Have you ever heard white guys play funk? They’re trying to interpret something that just doesn’t work for them. We’ve been just trying to find our way within this mariachi thing, you know? We didn’t want to sing it in Spanish… It’s just like… we’re white. It’s about making the music your own, rather than trying to make it something that it’s not.”

The sad-saccharine tale Quinceniera is as authentic a mariachi jam as any batch of white boys can muster, while Litigation explores the frustrations of a love unrequited and the longing Despretador walks a dangerous, tequila-soaked line, realizing a bit too late that the center of his affections is underage. There’s an uncompromising conviction to the music that would deserve credit in itself even if the album were an unlistenable mound of ill-conceived transplantation. But that’s not the case here at all – to the contrary, it’s a surprisingly enjoyable journey.

A novelty album, sure, but a hell of a good one.

In conjunction with the album’s release, a specially-designed fragrance will be released as well: Barrio Sweat. The cologne is described as, “warm and masculine… inhale for initial notes of leather, sage, thyme and green fig… exhale and experience earth properties of adobe, loose sand and dry grass transporting a finish of sweet agave and caramelized goat’s milk.”

Each bottle of Barrio Sweat will come complete with a “larvae of the agave snout weevil imported from Jalisco, drowned at the bottom of this mystical potion, reminiscent of the finest Mezcal. Barrio Sweat, just like Mariachi El Bronx, captures the intoxicating magic of Mexico, while honoring the time-honored traditions and values of another age that continue to shape the “barrios” of today- in Los Angeles and beyond.” Get it while you can!