While there are some side project efforts that leave even devout fans wondering how well the results are going to turn out, some are going to be great and that fact is no secret to anyone – it's just a no-brainer, and the debut from Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta is one that falls into that latter category. For his step out from his main squeeze, Los Straitjackets, Dan “Daddy-O Grande” Amis assembled a crack team of like-minded musical maniacs including Esteban Lopez, Caleb Franco and Enrique Casasola (aka members of Lost Acapulco and Los Twin Tones) to create an all-new concentration of the Tex-Max/surf/punk hybrid he developed first with Los Straitjackets and proves that he's now perfected on Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta's self-titled debut.
With no singer to trip over, Amis is free to splatter his Señor Ricardo Dale-inspired guitar stylings in every corner of the thirteen songs that comprise Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta without having to worry about bogarting someone else's space and the guitarist is obviously revelling in the freedom as it opens up opportunities for the guitarist to develop new ideas; there is an almost lyrical quality to the lead guitar figures that blaze through songs like “El Fantastico,” “Born To Love,” “Far Away” and “The Hell's Road Truckers” that gives each instrumental track more thematic focus and seems to mutate to suit the situation better than any singer could. Likewise, those mercurial leads give the band a little more leeway in what they can try stylistically on a track-by-track basis. If, for example, the band wants to catch a wave and ride the tube on some stellar surf sonics (like in “The Masked Surfer,” “Izmaylovsky” and “Born To Love”), they can do it believably with some reverb, chorus effects and a little Del-Tone ferocity before zipping back to some more landlocked climes and ride out to the ponderosa (as in “El Fantastico,” “Los Amos Del West” and “The Hell's Road Truckers”). In each case, the band is able to jump back and forth between extremes with ease and keep the album from sounding fractured by incorporating a few universal sounds – like some well-placed tremolo and Caleb Franco's miles-deep-but-nimble bass playing.
As is the case with any instrumental album, the recurring worry among the uninitiated is always whether or not a given album will begin to drag or get boring , in the case of Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta, because the music never stays long in any one landscape and because Amis' guitars never sink into static, the obviously excited band never rests so the energy is always up here. While most instrumental albums simply paint pictures that (if they're done right) listeners can see vividly in their minds eye, Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta not only presents those pictures, it provides movement between the scenery and captivates listeners; making them want to take the journey with the band.
Artist:
www.daddyogrande.com/
www.myspace.com/daddyogrande
Download:
Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta – “The Masked Surfer” – Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta.
Album:
Mexican Chili Taco Fiesta is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
