NOISEY 047: REY PILA

All too often there’s a boundary drawn between commercially viable acts and those forever resigned to the garage. If there’s any justice in the world, Mexican rock ‘n’ roll upstarts Rey Pila will cross through and find a worldwide following. Already a hit on Mexican alternative radio, Rey Pila is the solo project of Diego Solorzano, former front man for Los Dynamite. In 2009 Solorzano traveled to New York to work with Paul Majahan, producer for The National, TV on the Radio, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The polish pays off on the band’s 2011 self-titled debut.

The record belongs in the long and storied lineage of Mexican garage bands, from the garden path acid rock of Los Ovnis to the Beatles-esque jams of Los Locos. There’s a bicultural vision that’s reinforced by Solorzano’s decision to alternate Rey Pila’s lyrics between English and Spanish. The choice to sing in his mother tongue seems to be working out; the record’s first single, “No. 114,” is already on heavy U.S. and Mexican blog rotation.