Listen to Mexican alternative musicians cover Morrissey classics with Spanglish lyrics and mariachi flourishes.
No Manchester, the first album from Camilo Lara’s Spanish-language, rock-souled and Mariachi-accented Morrissey cover project Mexrrissey, delivers new spins on classics such as “Everyday Is like Sunday,” “Suedehead” and, of course, “Mexico.” Aside from being a must-hear for Moz fans, it could be the best Latin alternative album of 2016.
“No Manchester” is a Mexican slang phrase meaning “No Way” or “Are you kidding me?,” says a note about the album on the Mexrrissey web site. “But more than that it means that these songs, born in Manchester, have grown up, changed their hair and the clothes they wear and are living in Mexico under an assumed name.”
Lara, known for his grooving electronic outfit Mexican Institute of Sound, is a master of the ingenious retro-infused mix, and it’s not surprising that Mexrrissey is fabulous in all kinds of ways. Lara has the confidence to not cower before his idol Morrissey, bringing some telenovela worthy drama to the icon’s brooding songs and playing up his sense of humor on the 12 studio and live tracks on No Manchester. Lara produced the album of adaptations he arranged with Sergio Mendoza, and recorded it in Mexico City and Tucson. It was mixed by Grammy award winner Jack Lahana (Daft Punk, Phoenix).