Cafe Tacvba

• Genre: Latin Rock
• Hometown: Mexico City
• Cafe Tacvba Website

About

Emerging in the early 1990s from Mexico City, Cafe Tacvba have achieved massive popularity with their platinum discs and MTV video awards, and have come to represent the vanguard of Latin Rock and pop. While mostly adhering to the standard rock instrumental format of drums, guitar and bass, they mix rock rhythms with Latin styles such as Mariachi, trova, Merengue, Cumbia, and Tango. Lead singer Anonimo (Anonymous) raises his raspy voice to express angst and wounded whisperings to voice discontent, while Cafe Tacuba's guitars are notable for their Industrial-esque leanings. They've recorded mutated cover versions of popular Latin tunes, as well as having worked with the Kronos Quartet and the stomping feet of Mexico's Ballet Folklorico. They're consistently unconventional in everything from their compositions to their album artwork and packaging, and they appear poised to cross over to an American audience while still singing in Spanish.

- Robert Leaver