Too many recent "rock en español" hypes (Negu Gorriak, Niños con Bombas, Todos Tus Muertos) prove only that gratuitously pissed-off slam-dance funk can sound repulsive no matter what tongue it's rapped in. But two Mexican posses now exploding throughout Latin America with alternative-rock takes on hip-hop suggest a future for roch en español regardless. In fact, especially given their partly English vocals, it's not hard to imagine ¿Dónde Jugarán Las Niñas?, by Molotov, or Aquamosh, by Plastilina Mosh, crossing over to a non-Hispanic U.S. audience.
Molotov are the more Beastie of the two: a loud Mexico City foursome featuring two
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bassists who yell a lot, a guitarist prone to compact but hefty Jimmy Page chords and Public Enemy squeals, and the son-of-an-American-DEA-agent drummer from Louisiana. Their CD's title parodies a title by Mex teeny-bop idols Mana, their CD's cover is a brazen depiction of back-seat sex, and they bite the hand that feeds them, raging against Mexico's inescapable government-owned media machine, Televisa. Their Spanish verses translate into
mucho curse words, and their attempts at English are fairly rote "show and prove" stuff. But their wackiest and most liquid-hipped arrangements (on "Gimme tha Power," "Puto," "Cerdo") forgo bully-boy metal-rap crap, and the sad ranchero guitars and crazed
bandito jabbering of "Voto Latino" complement a
Cinco de Mayo fiesta groove worthy of War.
Monterrey, Mexico, duo Plastilina Mosh are more abstract, more addicted to Flaunting their satellite-dished eclecticism: guest Japanese chatter from Cafe Tacuba's singer, Anniomo; French swooning from the Astrud Gilberto mimic April March; Caribbean polyrhythms trip-hopped into easy-listening clinks and clanks; ivories shuffling like a rent party at a house of the rising sun. Mosh's most obvious influence is Beck, whose drummer, Joey Waronker, lends a hand – the bluesy harmonica and guitar loops in Plastilina's debut American single, "Monster Truck," are very "Loser." And just as recent Beck tracks like "Deadweight" have unvéiled his own fascination with Latin syncopation, Aquamosh highlights like "Niño Bomba" and "Afroman" hint at where he might be heading. (RS 789)
CHUCK EDDY
The debut album from these Latino rapcore bad-asses may draw a bit from the Rage Against the Machine handbook, but the album (released in 1997) is not only every bit as effective as anything RATM ever did, it's straight up funkier. We're talking moments of Meters-level funkiness. These guys have way better album covers, too.
