Made in Mexico - Guerillaton

I imagine this is one of the last new releases for this year that will end up on the blog before it’s time start focusing on some of the fine releases that are sure to come in the coming year. This is a pretty solid way to start capping it off though with Guerillaton, the second album from quirky post-punk/no-waver’s Made in Mexico.

It always seemed weird seeing a couple of their tracks on the popular Guitar Hero games. Although I doubt I’ve played that thing more than a couple times, it’s usually kind of fun to see friends play that song and watch their facial expressions as they begin to hear the music. It’s usually one of disgust and a bit of confusion. I guess it’s just not as fun to rock out to as maybe something like “Carry on Wayward Son” or “More Than a Feeling”. I’m thankful it’s not, as that was never the intended idea for the bands music anyway. That goes double for their follow up Guerillaton, which borrows heavily from Latin inspired beats and dub intertwining it with a pulsing post-punk rhythm and guitars that screech and claw their way around the incredibly catchy bass work. In fact, according to the band a lot of the influence behind the albums sound and overall theme is derived from Cesar Chavez. It’s definitely a bit different than their debut Zodiac Zoo; however in the end I think Guerillaton turns out to be the better record and allows the band to shed some of the comparisons to Jeff Schneider’s previous outfit Arab on Radar. It’s not often that a band sees their vision through as clearly as Made in Mexico have on their latest. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Made in Mexico – Mundovision [MP3]

For those interested in picking up Guerillaton, then head on over to Skin Graft to do so.

Five Dollar Priest - Self-Titled

I’m squeezing in an update today before some post-season baseball gets started. I can’t be missing any of that.

Today I bring you what I assume is the debut from the NYC based Five Dollar Priest out on Bang! Records. I think one of the easiest ways to give an idea as to what this band/album sounds like is to just let everyone know who makes up this group because it’s quite a collective of musicians and guests. You’ll either know if you want to proceed or not after reading it. This is the way the label approached it, so I see no reason to divert from that. Anyway, Five Dollar Priest is Ron Ward (Speedball Baby) on vocals/harp/percussion, Norman Westberg (Swans, Sulfur, Heroine Sheiks) on guitar, George Porfiris (Heroine Sheiks) on bass, Patrick Holmes on clarinet, and Bob Bert (Sonic Youth, Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls, Pussy Galore, Bewitched) on drums. So yeah, expect plenty of bluesy garage rock smashed together with a hint of early NYC no-wave and you kinda sorta got an idea. No matter what it may be, this record is pretty excellent if this is your cup of tea. The right amount of noise, the uneasy vocals from Ward, and a clarinet thrown in for good measure. Sign me up. And like I previously mentioned it features a number of guests also, like Jon Spencer, Cristina Martinez, Matt Verta-Ray, and James Chance all adding to this delicious mess. Check out the tune below for more.

Five Dollar Priest – Fingered [MP3]

For those interested in picking up the self-titled album from Five Dollar Priest, then head on over to Bang! Records to do so. Well worth it.