We love rock and we love latin music and for me when the two mix, there is a way it should sound. It should be Latin rhythms and traditions done in the spirit of rock. Latino Rocco! Ahora ves! El volumen numero uno está aquí.

Words and curation by Keith, with thanks to Steve Berlin. Rockin’ Corcovado by Mick Clarke

According to Wikipedia, “Latin Rock is a term to describe a subgenre blending traditional sounds and elements of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean folk with rock music. However, it is widely used in the English-language media to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish or Portuguese vocals. This has led to controversy about the scope of the terminology”. 

Damn right it has. 

Look up ‘Latin Rock’ on the streaming services and you will find a real mish mash. Sometimes it leans more to rock than latin - and it can get pretty cheesy too. Other times, it’s not rock at all but really latin pop - a hard one to resist given the wave of global domination in the genre after Luis Fonsi’s ‘Despacito’. If it was a mixed genre movie it would be referred to as a real hot mess, or a lío caliente you might say. 

Thing is, I love rock and I love latin music and for me when the two mix, there is a way it should sound. It should be Latin rhythms and traditions done in the spirit of rock. It doesn’t have to be hard rock, just not ‘pop’. Ultimately, Los Lobos is that sound. They popularised Latin pop with ‘La Bamba’ (preceding Despacito by 30 years no less) but unfortunately, this gave the band a long-lasting identity crisis. Los Lobos is still one of the most misunderstood rock bands of all time. 

However, other artists have arrived at the Latin Rock ranch too, notably Calexico. Back in the day Manu Chao brought a sort of indie flavour to it (throwing in Arabic music, punk, rap, flamenco, ska and reggae while he was at it). As an aside, whatever happened to Manu Chao anyway?

I’m calling this heady mix Latino Rocco and my ultimate choices are included in this first volume, but should we get this show on the road, there is plenty more where these come from. 

I sort of imagine this to be a rolling bandwagon festival tour, a little like Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, with all of the above and more in something of a Latin Rock extravaganza. I mean can you imagine Los Lobos and Natalia Lafourcade on the same bill with Ry Cooder and Hurray For The Riff Raff? It’s enough to blast the pandemic into distant history. 

But for now, it is a genuine Latin Rock playlist with a difference.