Acclaimed Mexican band MEXRRISSEY, renowned for their distinctive reinventions of classic Morrissey songs, have announced the release of their remarkable debut album, No Manchester, out March 4 on Cooking Vinyl. The band have also released a brand new single with accompanying video called International Playgirl, which is available as an instant grat upon pre-ordering the album on iTunes.
International Playgirl (Last of the International Playboys), the first single taken from the album, flips the gender of the subject as well as the nationality of Morrissey’s original hit song. There is a snatch of Mexican classic tune Tequila and a nod of the hat to Narco don Caro Quintero rather than to Reggie Kray.
Delving into Mexico’s profound obsession for all-things-Morrissey, Mexico City-based DJ and producer Camilo Lara, founder of the electronic music project Mexican Institute of Sound (M.I.S.) assembled a super-group of Mexico’s leading contemporary musicians, paying homage to The Smiths. The group features underground legend Chetes (Zurdok) on guitar, Jay De La Cueva (Moderatto /Titán) on bass, Ceci Bastida (Tijuana No) on keyboards, Adan Jodorowsky (Adanowsky) on guitar, Liber Teran (Los de Abajo) on guitar, Alejandro Flores (Café Tacuba’s favourite violin player), Alex Gonzales on trumpet (Twin Tones), Ricardo Najera on drums (Furland) and Sergio Mendoza and Jacob Valenzuela (both from Calexico) on vibes and accordion and trumpet respectively.
MEXRRISSEY has had an incredible trajectory, from a first try out show in Mexico City in April 2015 swiftly followed by a sold out mainstage debut at the Barbican in London, a UK tour (including an emotional sold out Manchester show), as well as triumphant shows at BAM in New York and The Regent in Los Angeles.
The highly anticipated debut album, No Manchester was mixed by Jack Lahana, winner of multiple Grammys for his work with Phoenix and Daft Punk. The title, “No Manchester” is a Mexican slang phrase meaning “No Way” or “Are you kidding me?” but more than that it means that these songs, born in Manchester, have grown up, changed their hair and the clothes they wear and are living somewhere else under an assumed name.
Andy Wood, Director of the La Linea Festival in London approached Camilo Lara with the initial idea to put together MEXRRISSEY. Andy says: “It just felt like time. I had a sense of the feeling for Morrissey in Mexico and the way that his music could connect with so much in Mexican music.”
Camilo adds: “I always thought that there were these invisible lines between what Morrissey and Manchester represents and what Mexico City and Mexican pop culture has. And if these are tiny coincidences, we’re making them a little bit bigger on this occasion with a concert of broken hearts and forgotten dreams.”
One starting point was to either find a song with a Mexican connection or something that Camilo and Sergio could imagine recasting with a Mexican flavour. There are some natural selections like Morrissey’s paean to the country Mexico. Another starting point was to simply select a song that the band members were big fans of such as, Everyday is Like Sunday.
Camilo continues: “I think for the people that know these songs (which is probably everyone!), I’m sure that they will be amazed that the songs can go into these directions of cumbia and boleros and sound actually as if they were written in that style. We try to get a glimpse of the poetry in Morrissey’s work and to capture the irony, the anger and the happiness at the same time.”
MEXRRISSEY are set to perform at Sydney Festival.
SATURDAY 23 JANUARY - ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY