POP MUSIC REVIEW : La Lupita in Frenzied U.S. Debut

La Lupita, one of the most important bands in the underground rock scene in Mexico, displayed a wide variety of styles in its U.S. debut on Tuesday at Spice in Hollywood. In a brief but intense hourlong set, the quintet played almost all the songs from its just-released first album, “La Lupita pa’ Servir a Ud,” (“La Lupita to Serve You”).

In a frenzied performance, the Mexico City band played mambo with a distorted rock treatment, as well as funk, rap and hard alternative-style rock. One of the highlights came when singer Hector Quijada told the audience, “La Lupita in its heart wishes that Mexican culture live forever.” Then the band played the popular corrido norteno “Contrabando y Traicion” (“Smuggling and Treason”) with a true punk-rock sound. By applying that style to a traditional epic narrative, Quijada was suggesting that rock music is now also a part of Mexican culture.

The opening act, veteran L.A. Latin-rock band Feel-IX, sounded too similar to Santana for comfort. Only in the softer songs did the group demonstrate some originality. The other scheduled act, the hard-rock band Cuca from Guadalajara, canceled its appearance because of problems with immigration authorities.