Los de Abajo
High-octane Mexican ska that collides with salsa, cumbia, and punk. Politically charged, brass-heavy anthems for the front lines and the dance floor.
High-octane Mexican ska that collides with salsa, cumbia, and punk. Politically charged, brass-heavy anthems for the front lines and the dance floor.
Los de Abajo sounds like a riot that turned into a block party. It is the sound of Mexico City (Chilango) culture distilled into a frantic, brass-led explosion. The music is anchored by the upbeat skank of traditional ska, but it is constantly interrupted by the swinging hips of cumbia and the sophisticated heat of salsa. There is a grit to the production that feels like asphalt and sun, making it feel more like a street performance than a studio creation.
What makes them distinctive is their uncompromising political soul. While many ska bands lean into the playful, Los de Abajo are deeply connected to the Zapatista movement, often incorporating revolutionary speeches and social commentary directly into their tracks. This creates a unique tension: the music makes you want to dance, but the message demands you pay attention. Their use of traditional Mexican instruments like the jarana alongside a massive horn section gives them a folk-punk weight that their peers often lack.
Start with 'Cybertropic Chilango Power'. It is their definitive statement, capturing the moment they perfected the blend of global electronics with local rhythmic traditions. It is an essential document of Latin alternative music that feels as urgent today as it did in the early 2000s.
Los de Abajo are a band from Mexico City founded in 1992 as a Latin ska four-piece. Since then they have expanded to eight members and widened their musical influences to include rock, salsa, reggae, ska, cumbia, Son Jarocho and banda sinaloense. Founder member Liber Terán is the main vocalist and writes many of the songs, although all band members receive equal pay for their contributions. The band was unable to secure a record deal in Mexico, as their music was considered to be insufficiently commercial, and ended up releasing their first album Latin Ska Force independently. However, in 1999 they secured a deal with David Byrne's Luaka Bop record label to release their international debut, Los de Abajo. The four founding members of the band were Carlos Cuevas (piano, manubrium organ, synthesizer and accordion, composer), Liber Terán (vocals and guitars and composer), Vladimir Garnica (guitar, tres, jarana, requinto, and Spanish guitar), and Yocupitzio Arrellano (drums and producer). Later they were joined by Luis Robles "Gori" (electric bass), Mariano "El Ché Pereira" (saxophones), Gabriel Elias (percussion), Daniel Vallejo (saxophones), Canek Cabrera (trumpet) and Carlos Alberto Cortez Ortega (El COCA, his initials) (bassist). The follow-up Cybertropic Chilango Power was released in 2002 and won BBC Radio 3's World Music Award for the Americas. 2006's LDA v The Lunatics saw them continue to absorb influences from around the world and included a Spanish-language version of The Fun Boy Three song "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)", featuring Neville Staples. The band are supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and have played benefit shows for the revolutionary group. The Zapatistas' Comandante Esther features on "Resistencia", the first track on LDA v The Lunatics.
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