Due to its close proximity to the US, Tijuana, Mexico has had a strong rock music industry since the mid-1950s. Many of the original bands sang in English and did cover songs of the top US bands at the time. That eventually led to writing and composing Spanish language songs that the local fans could identify with instead. There have been quite a number of local bands from Tijuana, most notably Los Rockets, Los Twisters, Los Nomads and Los Crazy Boys in the beginning. Later on, the bands gained their own notoriety among millions of fans throughout Latin America adding their own culture, and mixing in some other sounds and influences as well. Here is a review of the band Tijuana No! That came from the second generation of rock and roll lovers from south of the border.
The Tijuana No! Are Ska, Rock and Roll, and Punk Music
Before there was reggae and rocksteady music there was ska music. It was a combination of various sounds that came from the Caribbean, most notably, Jamaica in the late 50s and 60s. The Mexicans adopted it and changed it to represent their own culture and called it Mexican Ska. If you listen closely, you can hear jazz, calypso, and reggae all tied into the melodies of ska.
Tijuana No! has other influences as well in the US punk rock scene such as the Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols, and The Clash which were all quite popular at the same time, around the mid-1990s to the mid-2004 era in both countries. Their songs were typically about the racial and cultural differences in Mexico that were complicated by a government that had just one party that had been in power for half a century. Of course, there was always the unfair US immigration policies too, which is a rallying cry for nearly any young group in Mexico.
Their First Album Was Double Released
They went ahead and released their first album independently and didn’t get the reception that they felt it deserved. So they re-released it a year later, in 1992, under a BMG subsidiary called Culebra Records which sold much better and gained some traction in the Latin American markets. The song “Pobre de Ti” was their first hit single which means “Poor You” in English.
While the band met with some early success, they lost their first lead singer, Julieta Venegas to a solo career and then they lost another top vocalist to an early heart attack as well. Luis Guerena died in his home of a heart attack in 2004 which put an end to the band’s hopes of getting back together for another album.
The main members of the band were Cecilia Bastida on vocals and keyboards, Teca Garcia who did percussion, vocals and also played the flute, the deceased, Luis Guerena on vocals and percussion as well.
There was also Jorge Jimenez on guitar, Alejandro Zuniga on drums, Dardo Goria on keyboards, and DJ Tijuas that manned the turntables, especially in live shows. Their first album, entitled just NO was released both in 1991 and again in 1992. Their best selling album was “Trangresores de la Ley” which means “Transgressions of the law” in English. It had some songs about the mistreatments of citizens under the strict, and often corrupt, Mexican police and military police at the time.
In 1998 they released “Contra Revolucion Avenue” which again had a theme against the repression of the government which at the time was a common thread in the Mexican music world. They went on to record the “Rock del Milenio” album in 1999, and then their live album recorded in concert in Bilbao, Spain in 2000. You can also find their greatest hits called “Lo Mejor de Tijuana NO! That was released in 2001.
The band, Tijuana No! still gets together and does some shows on occasion, mostly tributes to their fallen member Luis Guerena. They still have a message to deliver in their music and are worth a listen to, especially live, if you ever get a chance.
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