111XPANTIA - Fuerza Regida (2025)
Starting a small “Mexican regional” tag because I suspect there’s going to be a lot more of it here soon. These guys have released 9 albums in six years, which is pretty impressive. They got started as a norteño band (hard to get much more “northern Mexican” than San Berndino CA). The last record was heavily electronic and dancefloor-oriented, which made it divisive, but here they stick to what got them noticed and add something extra.
“Trap corrido” is a fairly new variant of regional music, involving what I’d call hip hop aesthetics, but with the music still being traditional-sounding corridos with gorgeous playing and smooth vocals. The lyrics are less focused on the drug trade than narcocorridos, but are still about the hardscrabble life. They add banjo and a few other sounds that you might not expect, but it serves the music well.
Tracks I Liked
Peliculiando - a song of love and longing, with some toxic masculinity thrown in for good measure
Por Esos Ojos - the single, and probably the best song here.
