caguama@rotture: april 17, 2008

(this review is part fiction)

i don't really like to go out. i'll do it, mind you, cuz i'm kinda getting sick of sitting by myself too. but it takes alot to get me to move. but it was m.w.'s birthday, and i had promised her i'd come out to see her boyfriends band. that already sounds bad doesn't it? m.w.'s boyfriend is raul, and he's brilliant. but we'll return to that.
so it's a late show. like 10:30 or something. now, a man mine age should be 2 hours into an 8 hour sleep by then. but i'm sorta going through my mid-life, lost weekend, stumble around the city with 20 somethings kind of thing now so, what the fuck! (?)
jrod picked me up, and, and this is really cool, i was on the guest list. i think he was on the guest list and i was his guest, but, yknow, it was free.
rotture:smoky, dark. narrow but big. they served haams, which, i guess is cool for the kids. cooler than pbr? i dunno, i'm out of the loop.
so we get there and there is a god fucking awful band playing. don't know their name. don't care to. i guess they were supposed to be funny. like ween or something. but they just sound like tsunami. and tsunami fucking suck. really. i saw them in chapel hill and the janitor started sweeping up before they ended their set. sucked.
but the lovely j.s. shows up and she's always amusing. a hateful gal really, but good for a larf. so, y'know, here i am, the old man, surrounded by young(er) people, at some hip portland pit, chatting up a couple of lovely ladies. sher m.w. is taken, but still, i do love the company of ladies.
but jesus, it's almost 11. i'm fucking tired.
so i take a leak (the bathrooms were big and surprisingly empty! fellas, you know what i mean) (i actually considered sitting out the rest of the night in there!), and when i get back caguama is on stage.
oh, let me backtrack. i met raul before the show. totally humble, quiet guy. but something is up...something lurking...
should i also mention the ladies love him? oh! i'll get to that.
but the band. let me get the cliches out of the way. they don't sound like los lobos, alejandro escavado (or even rank and file).
i don't know...maybe the mexican pogues? is that racist? it's traditional mexican music filtered through a punk rock kids ears. nah, that's not it, but you get it. the three of you reading.
so they're playing. i had heard that raul had the voice of an angel. i don't think that's quite accurate. it's much better than that. it's rich. weathered beyond it's years. everything is sung in spanish which, to this gringos ears, gave it a deeper meaning. i don't know if the lyrics were good, but, fuck, they sounded beautiful.
at this point i should mention freddy trujillo, the bass player. m.w. told me he was from east l.a. (older, like 36. ouch.) and that he used to play with pat smear. bass hung real low, watt style. classic. beautiful harmony. danko like, warbly and high, sad, really gorgeous. he and raul were born to sing together. their was a keyboard player too, who sang, tho' his vocals got lost in the mix. jrod didn't like the keyboard but i did. i thought it kept the music more trad than punk. but that's me. (also, after the show, when i got back from the bathroom, the keyboard player was hitting on j.s. i mean, so was i, but really. not cool. i talked to him tho, and he was a really great guy. plus, i knew in advance i was sleeping on her couch, so no worries. and really, all i did was sleep on the couch, so we both ended up the same but i'm sure he slept better than me.)
jesus, i'm rambling.
caguama play mexican music. there are elements of punk, indie, whatever. some of their heavier stuff reminded me instantly of neutral milk hotels heavier stuff, strangely enough. y'know, that fuzzed out bombast ala 'holland, 1945'. during the heavy stuff i had m.w. and j.s. on each arm,swaying, both swooning over raul. bastard. have i mentioned the drummer? yeah, he was great too.

there's alot of people making alot of music for the wrong reasons these days. and not to sound like grandpa but alot of young bands are missing the point. caguama get it. they play the music they need to. the music that is pouring out of them it's honest and it's right. it's what is good about music. raul ugalde is a brilliant singer and songwriter. this may be the last time you hear his name, cuz he's not playing for the masses. he is an artist. caguama are unbelievably good. and when you start thinking too much of yourself listen to them. that's how it's done.

they're playing may 2nd at the cinco de mayo festival, and may 3 at berbatis pan. check them out.