After a few years of virtual flirting and informal encounters, Coahuila’s rock heroes Piyama Party and Chihuahua’s dreamy pop escapist Sr. Amable finally made an official collaboration in “Deporte Extremo Es Salir.” While most of the bands making a commentary on Mexico’s wave of violence do it in a bleak, almost depressing manner, the bands from the northern region are wittier than their counterparts. It’s not that these two acts have accepted the violence and gone on with their lives; they’ve just reached a different phase of social clarity. A few years ago Sr. Amable captured the odyssey of the bloody events in the eerie and fuzzy weekender jam “Lo Balean y Hace Carne Asada." This new song is like its progressive sequel. “Deporte Extremo Es Salir” acknowledges its surroundings, but it doesn’t portray Mexico as the slaughterhouse that media is bombarding us with.
On my last visit to Mexico I found every newspaper featured guidelines on how to prevent being a victim. Well, this is the alternative. “Deporte Extremo Es Salir” is like a summer anthem on the dangerous act of “going out.” The idea of comparing a weekend party to an extreme sport is simply genius; a different kind of war-zone than those Jersey Shore kids, who clearly have it easy. In the act of going out, the song first suggests you could die from the heat, or from the “shooting bad guys.” In this wonderful video, Piyama Party rewards its distinguished guests as true athletes by giving them crowns, drinks, and lots of vinyl action.