Director Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Grindhouse) has finally released a studio album’s worth of Chingon, the mariachi-rock band he first formed in order to score his own 2003 action flick Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Following that project, Quentin Tarantino asked Rodriguez to contribute “Malaguena Salerosa” to the end credits and soundtrack CD to Kill Bill: Vol. 2. Since then, Chingon, which is made up of a rotating cast of musicians from Austin, Texas, recorded the rest of the fiery songs now appearing on Mexican Spaghetti Western.
Like a Rodriguez movie, Mexican Spaghetti Western doesn’t take itself too seriously and is a whole lot of fun. “Se Me Paro” pounds the eardrums courtesy of drummer Rafael Gayol, with Rodriguez himself and two other guitarists layering different textures throughout what’s essentially a party tune. The spooky whistling of “Fideo del Oeste,” meanwhile, recalls director Sergio Leone and composer Ennio Morricone’s legendary collaborations, making this six-minute instrumental sound like an updated theme from a, well, neo-Spaghetti Western. However, we could have done without yet another version of the goofy cockroach song–here called “Cuka Rocka” instead of the traditional “La Cucaracha.”
Listening to Salma Hayek torch-sing her way through the lovely “Siente Mi Amor,” we wonder: What if, for a change, Rodriguez took an idea–any idea–seriously? Content with genre filmmaking and now pop music, he’s in danger of being left in the dust of Mexican talent like Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel). Ultimately, Mexican Spaghetti Western is a fast-food burrito: tasty but not too filling.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 4, 2007.