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The Bronx formed in 2002 of singer Matt Caughthran, guitarist Joby J. Ford, bassist James Tweedy and drummer Jorma Vik. Before very long at all the band began to garner the attention of industry insiders including Jonathan Daniel, manager of American Hi-Fi, who became their manager, and Island Def Jam Music Group who became their label after only 12 live shows.
Following a string of independent releases and live shows across the U.S. and Australia, The Bronx felt they were ready and produced their major-label debut titled “The Bronx” in 2006 – their second self-titled album. The album featured the tracks “History’s Stranglers” and “White Guilt”, with Ken Horne of The Dragons playing guitar on a number of tracks before becoming a fully fledged member of the band.
In 2007 The Bronx announced they would start recording two albums, the first, their third eponymous album “The Bronx” was released in 2008, and the second under the moniker Mariachi El Bronx, another self-titled album “Mariachi El Bronx” in 2009. The albums saw the departure of Jeff Tweedy on bass replaced by Brad Magers formerly of Christiansen and the arrival of Vincent Hidalgo. In 2008 The Bronx played the entirety of the Warped Tour and appeared as the highly revered band Black Flag in the film “What We Do Is Secret”. The band’s live performances were split between playing mariachi music under the “Mariachi El Bronx” alter-ego and rock shows under “The Bronx” moniker.
The synonymous Mariachi El Bronx and The Bronx continued their trend of releasing all self-titled albums with their Mexican folk follow-up “Mariachi El Bronx” in 2011 and punk follow-up the “The Bronx” in 2013. A number of members in the band also played guitar for the Canadian indie band Armistice as well as collaborating with rapper Schoolly D on the theme music for the Adult Swim show “Aqua Something You Know Whatever”.
Mariachi El Bronx is exactly what you would expect from any Mariachi band. The outfits each person wears is the flamboyant stereotypical Mariachi outfits. The part that is upsetting is watching them perform, you know they can do well and be very entertaining, however, there is just no originality to the band. “Revolution Girls” sounds exactly like the music played during the commercial breaks during Sábado Gigante.
The band doesn't look very lively, either. They just seem to be standing there and almost animatronic. Whilst they have great voices and lyrics, they are not engaging to the audience either. They all are staring at the ground, instruments, or the blank distant stare. Their concert goers don't seem overly enthusiastic, either. They just stand around doing a slow clap or slow dance – they don't dance with each other.
Mariachi El Bronx fails to get the audience involved with their performances. The performances are not showy, either: there's no fancy back drops or anything to help convey who they are. It's just a band on stage with instruments. No lighting or anything.
I want to like this band, however, it's just impossible when they seem almost rehearsed and robotic.
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