It’s trendy to call yourself punk; it’s a badge of honor, something to brag about. There’s plenty of examples of musicians saying that they are really living it, slumming it up at dive bars and playing as furiously as they can for some cheap beer. To fans punk means the real deal, a seal of authenticity like a gob of spit to their faces. They have been to battle, they have the scars to make it really ache through their amps.
Admittedly, most people who call themselves punk nowadays aren’t the real deal. Sure, we can get into the debate of who’s punk and what’s the score, but let’s ponder this: How many so-called punks can barely play? Who among them self-release their music on home-dubbed tapes, or set up their own shows and even international tour without a sponsorship or financial backing, scream about feeling fucked up and how everything sucks, making their music with whatever equipment they have at their disposal? I thought so.
Having established these limitations, Mexican punk is alive and well. Thanks to bands like Inservibles, Crimen (who recently broke up), Los Monjo, Tercer Mundo, Cremalleras, Mujercitos, Aborticidio, Muerte, Era Del Vacío, Clan Trevi Andrade, Niégalo Todo, and Avichines (among many others), there’s plenty of short, sloppy, and angry music to go around. In fact, a few of these bands have been making waves in the underground circuit worldwide, playing US, Canada and Europe, and even getting some smeared ink on the authoritative fanzine (see what I did there?) Maximum Rock N’ Roll.
Record label Cintas Pepe has been especially responsible for getting the word out, starting with the already legendary ¡Brutales Matanzas! comp. Now they present Sacrificio and their second material after the 2013 tape, Realidad Mierda. Sacrificio play raw unfriendly punk, there’s nothing to hold on to here but pure fury. Production was in charge of Yecatl (Cintas Pepe and the bands Inservibles, Mujercitos, and Muerte), Dave Rata (formerly of the amazing Ratas Del Vaticano, now in Tercer Mundo, and Muerte), and Grabaciones Pinche Engendro, who put out their previous tape. The recording quality is overdriven and muffled, so you know no computer was involved in the making of this album. It’s a hyperspeed awful-sounding bag of goodness.
The songs are short and to the point, with drums exploding all over the place, guitars slashing their way through, and the singer trying his hardest to blow out his voice. Opening track “Los Chavos Necesitan Un Líder” features many chaotic speed changes and even a guitar solo where not a single note is played, while “Mátate No Estés Chingando” is 29 seconds of distilled anger put to tape. On other songs like “Cierra El Hocico” and “Sacrificado,” they show there’s more to them than just fast thrashing, as the guitar and drum work display variety even if its played inexpertly (on purpose, of course). Meanwhile “Dame Chance (Soy Protocapitalista Por Naturaleza)” is a ripping song that ends with vocalist Discharly screaming “¡vete a la verga!” with all his guts.
On the liner notes, it says “we’re nothing new, listen to Heresy and HHH instead.” While I chuckled at this, I think they are missing the point. Sure, they might be trying to channel the UK and Spain speedsters, but their anger, humor, and personality are all their own. Punk isn’t about sounding original, but rather finding something you identify with, trying to imitate it, failing at it, and stumbling upon your vision in the process. This is a raging fun collection of rotten sounds that could only come out of Mexico City in 2014. I feel safe listening to bands that are still doing it for the right reasons while staying blunt and ugly.
Head over to Sacrificio’s Bandcamp to grab the full release.