Here's something you might be interested in.
"Man," said the Italian as we peed into roadside shrubs at an Ocotillo turnout. "I feel like I'm in a clothes dryer."
It was about ten o'clock on a Friday night and we had just dropped into the Imperial Valley desert in the Italian's 1984 El Camino. Dry Santa Ana wind was already chapping my lips and evoking an impending sense of possibility, endless highway, the unknown.
"Come on, man," said the Italian. "Let's get to the party."
When we arrived at Shyno's house, a three minute cab ride from the Calexico/Mexicali border, maybe 60 kids were hanging around the front yard off a main downtown street, talking loudly over music and cracking cans of Tecate Light.
We walked the clubby block to get a few street bacon-wrapped hot dogs and when we returned, Juan Cirerol, who has been called the Johnny Cash of Mexico, was playing Americana-infused norteño indie folk jams on his acoustic guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0bIhlV5OM&NR
A few Tecate’s later, Los Angeles shoegazers Tremellow hypnotized us with overdriven and reverb-drenched soundscapes reminiscent of Ulrich Schnauss, My Bloody Valentine, and Neu!.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlhAPM0RH_Y
Fellow LAtians and Tremellow’s tourmates, Stripper Pussy, followed with a raucous set featuring two screamers, a distorted bass, and high-velocity drums -
The performance was violent, bizarre, and ultimately, awesome.
“We’re pretty much the only band in Los Angeles that screams anymore,” bassist Martin told me before their set.
Keep an eye out for Stripper Pussy and Tremellow, who may be playing a show or two in San Diego this summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x78ZeNxJJJY
Mexicali noise/hardcore outfit Tron (Alex Tonella) played a one-man set covered in blood and wearing a lifelike pig mask.
Dig it, won’t you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDbAziZX0Ko
It’s not unusual for San Diego bands to stop at Mexicali venue Bar Monaco while on tour or for one-off nights.
Less common, however, are Mexicali acts such as Shyno’s bands X=R7 and Noise Beat Propaganda in San Diego due to stringent visa regulations.
After a 6 a.m. jaunt across the border to buy more beer in Calexico (Mexicali shops are not permitted to sell beer until noon), sunshine elevated the temperature so much that shade became useless against the pervasive ~105 degree air.
The Italian stuck around Mexicali to experience the culinary delights of the city's sizeable China Town, and I caught a ride with a friend west through blistering Highway 98 Tatooine heat.
Juan Cirerol
Tremellow
Stripper Pussy
"Man," said the Italian as we peed into roadside shrubs at an Ocotillo turnout. "I feel like I'm in a clothes dryer."
It was about ten o'clock on a Friday night and we had just dropped into the Imperial Valley desert in the Italian's 1984 El Camino. Dry Santa Ana wind was already chapping my lips and evoking an impending sense of possibility, endless highway, the unknown.
"Come on, man," said the Italian. "Let's get to the party."
When we arrived at Shyno's house, a three minute cab ride from the Calexico/Mexicali border, maybe 60 kids were hanging around the front yard off a main downtown street, talking loudly over music and cracking cans of Tecate Light.
We walked the clubby block to get a few street bacon-wrapped hot dogs and when we returned, Juan Cirerol, who has been called the Johnny Cash of Mexico, was playing Americana-infused norteño indie folk jams on his acoustic guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0bIhlV5OM&NR
A few Tecate’s later, Los Angeles shoegazers Tremellow hypnotized us with overdriven and reverb-drenched soundscapes reminiscent of Ulrich Schnauss, My Bloody Valentine, and Neu!.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlhAPM0RH_Y
Fellow LAtians and Tremellow’s tourmates, Stripper Pussy, followed with a raucous set featuring two screamers, a distorted bass, and high-velocity drums -
The performance was violent, bizarre, and ultimately, awesome.
“We’re pretty much the only band in Los Angeles that screams anymore,” bassist Martin told me before their set.
Keep an eye out for Stripper Pussy and Tremellow, who may be playing a show or two in San Diego this summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x78ZeNxJJJY
Mexicali noise/hardcore outfit Tron (Alex Tonella) played a one-man set covered in blood and wearing a lifelike pig mask.
Dig it, won’t you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDbAziZX0Ko
It’s not unusual for San Diego bands to stop at Mexicali venue Bar Monaco while on tour or for one-off nights.
Less common, however, are Mexicali acts such as Shyno’s bands X=R7 and Noise Beat Propaganda in San Diego due to stringent visa regulations.
After a 6 a.m. jaunt across the border to buy more beer in Calexico (Mexicali shops are not permitted to sell beer until noon), sunshine elevated the temperature so much that shade became useless against the pervasive ~105 degree air.
The Italian stuck around Mexicali to experience the culinary delights of the city's sizeable China Town, and I caught a ride with a friend west through blistering Highway 98 Tatooine heat.
Juan Cirerol
Tremellow
Stripper Pussy