It boggles the mind to think a project like this can even begin to be conceived by one of the decade’s most reputable punk bands.  The facts are this, here we have a band known for it’s hardcore punk sound, and yet what’s presented here with Mariachi el Bronx, is, well, a full on mariachi album.  The Bronx are a band that have been known to work with Guns n’ Roses alumni, and tour with the likes of Bad Religion, Every Time I Die, and Stick to Your Guns, and rather than continue on with that aggressively driven theme, what they might have very well have done here is embrace that true rebellious essence of punk by just uprooting themselves and moving into the most unexpected direction possible.  This effort to not let themselves remain formulaic, in any way (it seems), admittedly, is quite a commendable attitude to take.

The inception of the concept behind this album is not without this logic however, as anyone familiar with the band’s geographical origins will tell you.  This is a straight up “Mariachi” album.  Mariachi being a brand of music group originating from Mexico, typically consisting of violins, trumpets, spanish guitars, and a guitarrón (a small-scaled acoustic bass).  Like a great deal of Vans Warped Tour-prime performers, The Bronx too have a flag staked in southern Califronia.  Given the state’s history and it’s proximity to Mexico, it certainly should come as a surprise to no one that there exists a fairly sizable latino population in the area; it is deeply entrenched in Spanish culture.  Therefore it wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable that in the band’s efforts in looking to produce something new and different for an upcoming project, that they would look at their own home, and see what it is they grew up around.  There is even precedence for this, as Beck accomplished something similar with his 2005 album release Güero.  Beck grew up in southern California himself, and used the childhood experience to come up with the album’s title; a Mexican spanish slang word for a pale-skinned or blonde-haired person.  Beck has claimed to have been called this repeatedly growing up; and embraced the Mexican culture further by rhythmically waxing poetic on the album track “Qué Onda Guero”, and displaying it in the music video for the album’s second single, “Girl”.

Where the similarity here begins to diverge is that whereas Beck incorporated a multitude of sonic and lyrical influences (that included that of Mexican-American culture in southern California) in Güero as he typically does with all his work, what The Bronx have done here is taken just that one influence, and fully ensconced themselves with it.

This curious sonic side-project of an experiment might have granted The Bronx a bit of a license to simply put forth an homage to the genre that is mariachi music.  The band apparently was not content to simply record a playful “impression” of the genre, and instead opted to put forth an actually sincere foray into the genre as legitimate mariachi musicians, and quite simply, the results are astounding.

Perhaps the album’s greatest feature is its strong songwriting.  Rather than getting trapped in the eddy of being a generic mariachi band, they feature songs about freedom (such as with “Cell Mates”), forgiveness (with “Litigation”), and even love (in “Despretador”).  There’s a great sense of relatability in all the material presented.  Whether in the lyrics, or simply the sound itself, there is a sense of sympathy that invites the listener in in all parts, there’s even warmth in certain parts.  Even the track “Quinceañera” is curiously spooky in its string-tinged atmosphere, considering the title is the Spanish word for a girls fifteenth birthday party (a big deal in Mexican culture – think Mexican Sweet-16).   Moving from gloomy, to upbeat, to exciting, to bluesy, the album is made to be quite accessible via its variety of sound, themes, and lyrical messages all seem to speak to the human condition.

One has to understand that mariachi is not a genre that is largely prevalent outside of the ethnic background from which it has originated from.  So the fact that this band would so bravely jump into the deep-end of this pool of music, and swim its waters with such deft skill must be measured as quite an accomplishment.  And the nutty thing is that the songs are actually very well written.  The resulting quality of the songs on this album that have resulted from the efforts in this experiment are a testament to the skill of The Bronx in general, and may very well be motivating to those new to the band to investigate the rest of their catalogue of music.  Mariachi may not be your “thing”, but it’s certainly worth a curious listen.  People often say that to be punk is to have a personality that seeks to rebel against the mentality of the majority.  Perhaps one could argue that The Bronx went punk on the punk genre itself, thus taking the tradition of their musical origins to a whole other level.

(8.0/10)