GARAGE EP, 60 TIGRESIndependiente, México
Rating: 65
By Carlos Reyes
60 Tigres was another great surprise to come out of Monterrey last year, Los Emigrantes was an impressive, firm and confident debut and it always crossed my mind that they could be as required as their fellow power electro rock band Kinky. 60 Tigres is of course less experimental and less suited for soundtrack marketing, but I must say their second album sounds as exhausting as Kinky’s disappointing but not entirely messy Barracuda.
Don’t expect this EP to step firmly on its title; this is far from embracing the garage as a sound (I'm guessing they're paying tribute to the popular gig venue), in fact, one of its biggest flaws is that it sounds tremendously overproduced, which I usually don’t mind, but the condensation of sound here is simply too shallow to swallow. It sure is party-ready, but aside from two tracks, there is barely any time to spare noise throughout the resting five tracks, they’re all so frenzied to a maximum groove that they even sound pushy and desperate. 60 Tigres quickly establishes its high level of funk with “Chills and Pills”, a furious party starter a la “I’m losing my mind and my head will explode” attitude, but its constant awe to hit the ground ends up suffocating its own embellished purpose. Luckily, the title track rapidly gets rid of these attached flaws, in fact, the song works perfectly as the anthem that could introduce all future shows, it’s as daring and unattached of inflated energy as the songs from their first album, the fact that it isn’t as catchy as “Dentro de mi cuerpo” or “El Motivo” is to be expected as they “don’t care if someone is watching.”
After a shaky start, things go back to middling territory; first the instrumental “Segun Yo”, which really doesn’t go anywhere, and “Otra Noche” which is actually interesting as it romanticizes its beat with mashed-up tricks but it’s unnecessarily long unless they’re recreating a battle field or some kind of dance off with armor. “Modelos Sin Personalidad” is the other track that works fully, in part for Roberto “Mr. Racoon” Polo’s first-class vocal, which needless to say, his instrument got such a pleasant color and vibration to envy. The track is a delicious foot-stepper with the truthful personality wannabe models lack to possess. Garage is not a bad album whatsoever, but it’s below par expectancies as both an exercise and second attempt.