I used to love driving to Texas every year for SXSW.
Even before I got there, one of the highlights of my trip was listening to all the Spanish stations on the radio, which gradually increase in number and coolness the further south you get. I would always hear tons of great music that I would never come across otherwise — and would never come across again, since I only speak bar-room Spanish (“Hola! Uno cerveza, por favor. Gracias!”)‚ and could never figure out the artists’ names or the song titles (this was in the days before digital displays). Even so, every year I drove back north with so many CDs — including a ton of Rock en Espanol — that a border guard once asked me seriously if I owned a record store. If I did, I would definitely stock Los Makenzy, based on this live album. Like a lot of their brethren, these Cololmbians are all over the musical map, flitting (and often fusing) rock, psychedelia, punk, funk, pop, reggae, ska, rockabilly and various Latin styles — all laced with the mandatory horn section and percussion battery, of course. I prefer their heavier, more rocking fare — which really kicks into gear on track 8 — but even the softer stuff has enough layers and depth to make it worth a listen. This album includes songs from their two previous studio releases, so now I guess I need to go get those two. Thankfully, I don’t need to drive to Texas to do that anymore.
THE EDITED (AND TRANSLATED) PRESS RELEASE: “The Makenzy are a band from Bogotá, Colombia. Andrés and Nicolas Makenzy create a musical journey that combines elements of Latin American music and rock. Regardless of the format, they manage to summon different generations who find in their music an act of honesty that, beyond the message and the language, remains vibrating in the soul of the viewers.
Los Makenzy have two acclaimed studio albums, Los Makenzy (2016) and Monstruos y Animales (Monsters and Animals) (2019), in addition to the live album Monstruos y Animales (En Vivo). Their work has been presented live in the main cities of the United States, Mexico and Central America, and has led them to be part of emblematic festivals such as Rock al Parque, Estereo Picnic, Festival Breakfest and Festival Cosquín Rock. The band are currently working on their new LP with renowned producer Phil Vinall, which they plan to release in early 2021.”
