El Shirota Releases 'La Ciudad' Video

Seven years may be a long time for a band to release their debut album, but for Mexico City's El Shirota it was worth the wait. Today, they released their dizzying new single "La Ciudad" and announced the June 12 release of their long-awaited debut album, Tiempos Raros, via the esteemed, newly resurrected label Devil In The Woods.

Listen below!

"This is a song about the weirdness of time and moving forward," says singer and guitarist Ignacio Gomez. "Sometimes things move too fast and you have to keep up the rhythm even if you are not feeling ready for what's next. In our case, moving to the city was one of those times." Guitarist Ruben Anzaldúa, bassist David Lemus, and drummer Gabriel Mendoza round out the group.

Appropriately meaning 'Weird Times' in English, Tiempos Raros offers a giant leap in both production and arrangement and a more refined sound than the band's three EPs, which were raw, unrestrained blasts of post-punk and post-hardcore that recalled the best of late '90s powerhouse labels Gravity and Gold Standard Laboratorie.

"Rubén, David, Gabo and myself went about producing the album in a different way, and spent more time than ever on recording and experimenting," says Gomez. "We brought in old songs and ideas we'd had but put aside and worked on them, and then we'd write and record all new songs as well. It was a really different way to work, and it was really fun, and I'm happy at how the record sounds."

But don't think that this smoother, more sophisticated sound means they're moving away from the aggressive sounds of their previous releases. That El Shirota style is still very much alive, as you'll hear in the twelve-minute epic "RTL," the heavy and brooding instrumental "El Chirota," and the intense In Utero thrash of "La Ciudad." The more melodic sounds of "A Donde Voy" and "Cuánto Falta" add an extra dimension not heard from the band in the past, and this newfound depth only adds to the feeling that El Shirota has discovered a style they can truly call their own.

Produced by the band itself, and mixed by bassist David Lemus, Tiempos Raros instantly hits the listener with a sound reminiscent of the heady final decade of the 20th century. "I think the way Tiempos Raros sounds is reminiscent of the music the band bonded over when we first got together, bands like Pavement, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Guided By Voices, as well as more modern sounds favored by the rest of the band," adds Gomez. Indeed, one can hear the echoes of the seminal Blue Album Weezer in new single "Más de una vez" and the superb "No Se Todo," while the rest of Tiempos Raros wouldn't have sounded out of place on the playlists of KROQ or KEXP twenty years ago.

Tiempos Raros may have taken a long time to get here, but it's here now and it's exciting and fresh and the band can't wait to share it. "Touring is our top priority now," Gomez says. "We can't wait to hit the US later this year." In the meantime, Tiempos Raros is happy to fill the role of your go-to album of the summer for 2020.

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