Mariachi El Bronx (II)

If you’ve got to a punk-themed Quinceañera coming up and you’re stuck for music, Mariachi El Bronx (II) may be the album for you.
For those of you familiar with The Bronx’s work, but not their debut Mexicali effort, Mariachi El Bronx (II) may come as a bit of a shock. It’s a startling change-of-pace for a band best known for their highly-respected brand of hardcore punk. For the rest of you, well, it depends on your tolerance for mariachi.
Opener ’48 Hours’ gets things off to an assertive, but ultimately misleading start. It’s punchy, defiant and has an impressive energy to it. Unfortunately, the foot is off the pedal for the rest of the album and it shows: the second self-titled album from the mariachi-playing alter ego of The Bronx is perfectly pleasant, but there is a sameness in feel and sound throughout that seems self-defeating to me.
‘Revolution Girls’ is the sole effort to benefit from the generic restrictions of mariachi. Much like the rest of the album, the song is laidback, but at least it sounds fun and relaxed. Overall, then, this is a bit of a damp squib.