El Shirota - “Niebla”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 6

Pairs Well With…Los Dynamite, Guided By Voices, Los Blenders

Mexican rock band El Shirota point back to grunge rock on their 2020 record Tiempos Raros, concentrated on melding riffs from 90s influences with patient, shoegaze-infused songwriting. Across a record balancing hypnotic atmosphere with classic heavy-rock patterns, El Shirota chart a unique path both from a Latin rock and an indie rock angle. There’s post punk drive here, but El Shirota’s sound is not necessarily aggressive, often falling into a mid-tempo groove that feels like it could comfortably keep going on forever. That said, tracks like “La Ciudad” and “RTL” can go pretty hard, especially in the latter’s feedback jam that plays out over the course of several minutes. El Shirota are already looking towards what’s next with “Niebla”, a song fuzzily embracing power pop as much as post punk and among the catchier rock numbers in their increasingly rich catalog. (Kevin McStravick)