By: Jessica Grose
It would be easy to lump Made in Mexico along with the rest of the bands in the Providence, R.I. scene — easy to call them noise rock and write them off as another Lightning Bolt in the pan. Although they’re often loud and dissonant, Made in Mexico also draw on the plodding bass lines of metal, the screechy vocals of punk, the swirling guitars of psychedelia, and the over-the-top charisma of a Karen O-styled frontwoman.
Rebecca Mitchell does sound like Karen O, but more like the screaming, raw-throated demon on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ debut EP than the emotive, purring feline on “Modern Romance.” But there is something spiritual in Mitchell’s voice that distinguishes her from any number of O-wannabes. When layered over the bleak guitar head trips on songs like “Solanas,” Mitchell is primal and deeply agitated, particularly when she continually repeats the line, “It was heat and hunger.”
And while the noise rock label doesn’t stick to Made in Mexico’s poncho, their Mexican cooking isn’t without local noise scene flavor: Guitarist Jeff Schneider was in Arab on Radar while drummer Dare Matheson and bassist John Loper came from La Machine.
Made in Mexico will play a one-off concert in their hometown at AS220 on Dec. 15, but otherwise you can catch the band’s “Farewell Myth” in the new PlayStation 2 video game, Guitar Hero, as featured in SPIN.com’s new Holiday Gift Guide.
