Guajiro
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Guajiro

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""See you in the pit with my studded bracelet and matching belt on.""

Guajiro plays an uncompromising brand o' punk that will make fans of NoFX and early Clash grin. The outfit alternates between Spanish and Espanglish during sons such as "Lo Siento," "Matanzero" and "Domino," though the music is all punk 'n' roll, though and through. It's hard to claim that this 18-minute EP is a jaw-dropping success—there's not much here that you walk away humming and find yourself eager to return to. That said, the energy's right and I'd bet my neighbor's Warped Tour tickets that Guajiro is now and probably always will be a far better live band than it is on disc. Here's to ya, boys. See you in the pit with my studded bracelet and matching belt on. – Jedd Beaudoin (2006, The Daily Copper) - The Daily Copper


""Güajiro's strength is clearly in building solid songs""

You don't really notice it until it's pointed out, but Hialeah's treeless streets do make for a rather bleak environment. The famed "City of Progress" has recently become a cradle of rock 'n' roll for South Florida amid the bump 'n' grind of hip-hop and reggaeton. Bands like Humbert and the Brand have definitely heightened local awareness to the concrete jungle of impossible-to-decipher alphanumerical street assignations. Güajiro's blend of alternative Spanish rock and '77-style British pogo punk is the next noteworthy entry in the "Hialeah Sound."

The personnel consists of ex-Brand and sometimes solo musician Jorge "Jorges" Gonzalez on bass, the double-barreled guitar assault of Will Lopez and Jorge "Tereso" Correa, and the rock-solid drumming of Doug MacKinnon (who's probably better-known as a former drummer of California's long-running punk outfit the Vandals and also for drumming for Boston hardcore legends Slapshot's 1995 tour).

This five-song effort is unrelenting from the get-go. Rolling guitars and bilingual vocals energize heartfelt tracks of the immigrant experience and torn loyalties between the American dream and memories of Cuba. Anchored by the rhythm section's expertise, the language switches are almost imperceptible. Opening with "Lo Siento" ("I Feel It"), Güajiro establishes that good-time cross of Brit-punk with American pop and heightens it in the anthem "Matanzero," an all-Spanish mosh-pit romp. And of course, you can't have some cubiches rocking around without a song titled "Domino" — another heavy-hitting, straightforward rocker.

The closer, "Middle," is especially heartfelt in its sense of abandonment and love's loss (personal note: Kelly baby, I love you). Güajiro's strength is clearly in building solid songs, but more importantly, it's in how the band maintains the energy throughout them.
- New Times Miami


""Guajiro’s debut EP rocks snotty ’77-style pogo punk, infused with a Spanglish snarl""

Aiming to cast some light on the under-represented Latino consciousness within the punk community,Guajiro’s debut EP rocks snotty ’77-style pogo punk, infused with a Spanglish snarl and a few riffs culled straight from the Pixies playbook—so much so that the outro to “Simpatico” might be teetering on copyright infringement. Straight from the barrios of South Florida,Guajiro show the frustrations that spring from suburban decay clearly aren’t limited to Southern California alone.

- CMJ # 938 NMR


""Güajiro's debut CD, Material Subversivo, is exactly what Lopez hoped to create — a stripped-down mix of '77-style punk and melodic rock, with lyrics in Spanish and English""

Pop-punk, ska-punk, garage-punk, goth-punk, post-punk — is there any part of punk rock left to explore? Sure, but it may come from outside the cultural lines of middle-class America. There's a whole multicultural angle that's been mostly untouched. And that's where Miami's Güajiro comes in. The fourpiece — composed of guitarist/vocalist Will Lopez, drummer Doug MacKinnon, guitarist David Santos, and bassist Jorge G. Graupera — thinks it's time punk rock has its own "Latin Explosion."

"I don't think there's a good Latin punk record out there," Lopez says, adding that he intends to change this. "We set out to make the definitive Latin punk record — an American-sounding, Latin punk record."

Though it won't be released until sometime this fall, Güajiro's debut CD, Material Subversivo, is exactly what Lopez hoped to create — a stripped-down mix of '77-style punk and melodic rock, with lyrics in Spanish and English. The songs are tightly executed and well-produced without sounding overly slick. And it probably doesn't hurt that members of Pennywise and Buena Vista Social Club had a hand in the recording.

"The idea was to make a Wu-Tang Clan-type of punk record where we have guys from other bands perform on the recording," Lopez says. "We had an open-door policy where anybody who wanted to bring something in, while we were in the studio that month, could come by and take part in the songs."

But how did a fledgling band from Miami, together for less than a year at that point, hook up with all those California cats? Simple — by having a drummer who grew up there. Having played in Cali punk legends the Vandals (as well as Boston hardcore vets Slapshot), MacKinnon knows more than a few people in the SoCal punk scene — people like Mudd from Long Beach Records, who released Güajiro's self-titled debut EP. The disc features the song "Matanzero," which has been all over the satellite airwaves and cyberspace, from MTV Overdrive to XM's Rancid Radio.

"Rancid had been playing our song 'Matanzero' on their radio show," Lopez says about how Güajiro got on Friday's bill. "Soon, I got a call from their booking agent who said they were handpicking bands for opening slots on their tour and they wanted us to be one of them."

Of course, that doesn't mean Lopez and crew do all their promoting on the Internet.

"You can't just play Señor Frogs on a Monday and say, 'This scene sucks,'" MacKinnon says. "You get your ass in the van, book your tour, and earn those fans one by one. There'll be breakdowns, a lot of peanut butter and jelly, and a lot of Taco Bell. If it means that much to you — if it's in your blood and you want to leave your mark — you have to go out and work hard."

Güajiro's done its share of hard work. The band knows that to reach its target audience, playing only inside the States is not an option. It was time to bust out their visas.

"We played a music festival in Ensenada, Mexico, which was awesome," Lopez says. "They shut the entire town down — you can't park anywhere. There were bands from different genres playing on these huge sound systems. We played three shows, and there were like 5,500 people each night. We definitely plan to go back."

Lopez adds that a trip to Tijuana is in order, as well as a return to Puerto Rico. Thankfully, as Lopez learned, reggaeton isn't the only thing Puerto Rican kids are into.

"There are kids over there trying to bring back the CBGB, Saturday-matinee-show vibe — a bunch of raging, 14-, 15-year-old hardcore kids," Lopez says. "The P.A. sucked, but it didn't matter. The kids just went nuts, jumping on stage and singing along with us, even though they had no idea what we were saying. And from there, we'd play a show that same night at a regular club. The island's really about to explode with this kind of music."

However, there's one nearby communist island Güajiro won't be visiting anytime soon. Hell, their merchandise isn't even allowed there.

"Our friend, Omar, recently went back to Cuba to visit his family," Lopez recalls. "He brought some Güajiro CDs, T-shirts, and videos, but the customs agents stopped him. They said, 'What is that?' He told them it was just a band — some friends of his. They said, 'Oh no, that's subversive material — material subversivo. We can't let that in.' They confiscated all of it. When Omar told Dougie and I about this, we kind of looked at each other and knew that when the record was done, that's what we'd call it."

So Güajiro's banned in Cuba, eh? Not a problem. With a series of tours scheduled for later this year — including a trip to New York City, possibly for the CMJ Music Fest — Güajiro will do just fine without Castro's approval. Let's just hope he doesn't want credit for the album title.

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- New Times - Broward / Palm Beach


""Punk group Guajiro has a slick sound and a heap of momentum""

MIAMI NEW TIMES
Hialeah Hardcore
Local punk group Guajiro has a slick sound and a heap of momentum. Nobody is more surprised than they are
By Jonathan Cunningham
Published: June 14, 2007
City Of Miami Beach

So two Cubans, a Puerto Rican, and an Irish guy walk into a dental supply warehouse ... "We make music that's unique to this neighborhood. Sometimes I'm surprised people are interested." Developing a strong identity as a band is a challenge. Often groups try so hard to be unique that they all end up sounding the same, or don't have the experience to trust their gut and just be. Throw race and nationality into that mix and things get even more difficult. Enter the world of Hialeah-based punk band Guajiro. Three of its four members are Hispanic -- lead singer Will Lopez and bassist Jorge Gonzalez-Graupera are Cuban; guitarist David Santos is Puerto Rican -- and the fourth, drummer Doug Mackinnon, is an Irish-descended transplant from Boston. But ask them to define their group, and the thirtysomethings laugh. It's as if they've thought about the question so much that instead of offering a detailed answer, they'd rather just be.

* So two Cubans, a Puerto Rican, and an Irish guy walk into a dental supply warehouse ...
Jacqueline Carini
So two Cubans, a Puerto Rican, and an Irish guy walk into a dental supply warehouse ...

"Whatever -- the language down here is English, it's Spanish, it's invented words, and we represent this area and what this town's about," Lopez says. "We didn't say, Let's be a Latin punk band.' No. We're a Miami punk band. In Miami you speak Spanish, you speak English, a combination of both, and that's how our lyrics come out."

Their mish-mash style of hardcore meets Spanglish rock isn't brand-new, but it's unique enough to give them a platform on which to build their own sound. Their recordings and live shows are full of intense power chords, raucous energy, and complex compositions. Some tunes are straight-ahead classic hardcore; others have a Latin indie feel that can catch listeners off guard. And an undercurrent of Latin percussion runs through some numbers. Even with a hard-driven punk aesthetic, Guajiro is inescapably a product of South Florida.

"I don't see how what we're doing is so special," says Mackinnon. "We make music that's unique to this neighborhood. Sometimes I'm surprised other people are even interested." But outside the group's home base, fans and industry types are increasingly seeking a piece of Guajiro. Recently the bandmates signed with Belgium-based I-Scream Records and inked an endorsement deal with Gibson that has landed them a spot on the upcoming Vans Warped Tour. Their debut full-length album, Material Subversivo, was released last month.

Perhaps most notably, MTV chose them to star in a reality television series featuring Latin American bands, called Rally MTV, which saw the four-man group spend close to three weeks in South America filming last month. The show will air stateside in a bilingual version on MTV tr3s, as well as on all of the company's Latin American channels. Guajiro was the only participating band from the United States.

"This is all happening way faster than we could have expected," Lopez says with a smile. "We've all been through a lot to get to this point, and now things are falling in line." Mackinnon and Lopez first met at a barbecue in 2004 and initially bonded through a conversation about the lack of a definitive Miami rock sound. The exchange planted the seeds for Guajiro.

"We were talking about how when you're listening to a punk band from Long Beach or New York or Boston, you can tell exactly where they're from by the way they play," says Mackinnon, "and that what this scene lacks is a punk band that sounds distinctly like it's from Miami."

Gonzalez-Graupera, the group's wiseass and resident shit-talker, playfully interjects, "Most bands down here are trying to be from someplace else. At a certain point, you've just got to be yourself and make music that you like. If you're in a band for any other reason, you're starting off on the wrong foot."

By the time Lopez and Mackinnon began forming Guajiro in 2005, they were tired of false starts and determined to put together a band with enough wisdom and talent that it couldn't lose. Before Guajiro, Mackinnon played with two quasi-legendary groups: the Boston hardcore band Slapshot and L.A. punk pioneers the Vandals. Lopez fronted the New Jersey-based Friction Wheel in the early Nineties and then worked as a marketing rep for Warner Music Latin America before giving up on music to run a dental supply company. Gonzalez played with local pop-rock outfit the Brand and then toured with Latin indie outfit Volumen Cero before trying out and then mostly abandoning a solo career. Santos spent time with local metal band Car Bomb Theory but was floating unhappily, waiting for the right opportunity to reveal itself. Guajiro was a second chance for - Miami New Times


""...Guajiro Is Inspiring""

GUAJIRO "Material Subversivo" (Scream Records) 3 stars

Cuban-American punk - in Spanish yet - sounds like a totally unlikely proposition. But if you think about it, the intensity that ignites so much Cuban music (and politics) suits punk very well. This Miami quartet brings fierce musicianship, integrity, passion and a smart ambivalence to its debut. And it's great to hear someone explode musically at the forces of self-righteous repression that thrive on both sides of the Florida Straits.

The cover is a reproduction of a Cuban passport, and the title was what a Cuban official dubbed Guajiro's music when a friend tried to bring some to the island. Guajiro is definitely subversive for anyone who thinks inside the usual categories. Grinding guitars meet bata drums and Yoruba chants (courtesy of traditional drummers Aruan and Arelan Torres, who've taught Cuban percussion to Douglas MacKinnon, the lone Anglo) in "Santa Fe," which gets inside the head of a man in Santa Fe, Cuba, a jumping-off point for rafters, the musical ferocity a terrific vehicle for his emotional agony as he wonders whether to stay or go.

The pain in "Dos principes" (Two Princes), with lyrics from the Jose Marti poem about a king and a shepherd suffering the death of their sons, gives you goosebumps. "Mi verdad" (My Truth) is an in-your-face demand to let them think what they want. And "El gallo" is a sly tale of a Cuban rooster who thinks he's king of the cockfighting ring until he meets an even tougher Mexican bird. The songs can start to sound repetitive. But all in all, Guajiro is inspiring.

Pod Picks: "Santa Fe,"" Dos Principes"

-Jordan Levin - The Miami Herald


""Memorable melodies don’t wait on translation.""

If you are sick of the heavy-handed swagger and ritz of Rock en Espanol, or if Los Crudos were too gritty and hardcore for you to swallow in one gulp, maybe the melodic fervor of this band, which crisscrosses the path between Hispanic and “Spanglish” while delivering a driving tour de force that is indebted to emo, skate rock (like pop-fueled All minus the mathy rhythms) on “Matanzero” and the Pixies (check out the licks from “Where is My Mind” woven into the speed-fest “Simpatico’). The delivery is smooth and cogent, though not necessarily far-reaching, and even though a cowbell shows up on “Middle,” the consistently likable music doesn’t fall prey to clichés as much as hum along with sincerity and well-constructed mainstream punk values. At best, it flirts with the early1990(')s rock sound of later period Fluid ('member them from Sub Pop?) or the new breed of bands on (Initial Records), meaning there is a(n) unassuming guitar sound that ditches glareand glam for hooks and meatiness, a voice that doesn't try to scrape off skin cells or raise hairs on your back , a drummer who nails down the beats with flexing finesse that doesn’t require a jazz manual, all while the emotive propulsion is immediate and infectious. The lyrics, at least in English, are a bit pat and self-helpy (“the higher ground is above you just a little”), not exactly overly clever, but they sound soaring, and the Spanish lyrics transcend from ethnic-flavor into everyday world living, where the sound of the streets and suburbs are dual language, baby, and memorable melodies don’t wait on translation. - Left of the Dial


""Now that’s what I call speaking my language!""

"Punk bands in 2006 are a dime a dozen, but a cüspãna punk band in 2006 that sounds like they’re straight outta 1978? Now that’s what I call speaking my language!" - Jeffrey, Detroit Metro Times


Discography

Guajiro ep 2005

Material Subversivo - LP - MAY 2007

Photos

Bio

Recently selected to participate in an MTV reality TV production entitled "Rally MTV" and live appearances alongside the greats of punk rock such as Pennywise, Rancid, and Flogging Molly, Guajiro continue their successful trajectory through both worlds of anglo punk rock, and through their latin roots, the Spanish music market. The band with their inimitable "Rock en espanglish" have just released their first full length album "Material Subversivo"(the title taken from a Cuban official that denied the entry of the first ep into the island declaring it "subversive material"). Continuing the exploration of themes pertinent to their bilingual experience in the US, the record reflects the musical and ideological duality within a band that consists of Cubans (guitarist/vocalist Will Lopez and bassist/vocalist Jorge Gonzalez), Puerto-rican David Santos (guitarist) and Irish drummer Doug Mackinnon. With such diverse musical guests on the recording such as "trecero" Julio Martinez (Albita, Compay Segundo) and bass-player Randy Bradburry (Pennywise), The record is a musical bridge between the US and Latin American cultures.

FEATURED IN 8 EPISODES OF "RALLY MTV', WHICH AIRS ALL SUMMER LONG ON MTV3'S

VIDEO FOR "SANTA FE" IS CURRENTLY ON ROTATION ON MUN2 AND MTV3'S

"MATANZERO" (from Guajiro ep) VIDEO WAS ON ROTATION ON MTV ESPANOL AND MUN2. ALSO ON MTV ON-DEMAND. VIDEO WAS ALSO BUZZWORTHY AT MTV PR IN 2006.

JUST RELEASED DEBUT FULL-LENGTH ON I SCREAM RECORDS. PRODUCED BY DARIAN RUNDALL (PENNYWISE/YELLOWCARD/SUICIDAL TENDENCIES)
THE RECORD IS A VIRTUAL WU TANG CLAN OF LATIN PUNK WITH MEMBERS OF BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, G2, AND PENNYWISE PARTICIPATING.