Band Review: El Guapo

"We're a straight-up alternative rock band, but with lyrics in Spanish," El Guapo's lead vocalist Mike Lopez once said.

With their four-song demo, the group presents a polished sound that owes more to Lopez's circulation in Chicago power/alterna-pop than his participation in the local Latin rock set, though the disc exists because of both. Their newer compositions and Mud-to-Guapo-translated ditties feature simple chord progressions on rhythm, wandering solo accompaniment, and floating bass lines for a background guitar-wash that nods to Smashing Pumpkins in its alternating soft-to-hard switches. Though their strategy is calculated, the music sounds like it flows naturally from the group's versatile gigging on both sides of Chicago rock's linguistic frontiers.

June 2002, Illinois Entertainer

Posted by Benjamin at June 20, 2004 11:09 PM
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