theBloodline

The good:  Awesome conjunto music
The Bad:  Fuzzy graphic layout
The Ugly:  I threw up all the beer  I drank after jamming the album

Up on the Hot Seat we have Juan Dominguez y Los 5 de Zapata with their newest album “Cuando Cai la Tarde”.  Guess where they’re from?  Nope, not San Antonio.  They come from Zapata, TX (surprise!).  Rumored to be Ricky Muñoz’s (Intocable) first band, these guys carry an original sound that hasn’t changed in years.  All of the music you hear on their CD are songs you won’t hear other conjuntos covering (how many times have you heard Puño de Tierra, Tengo Penas, Tu Amor y El Mio, and Ojos Querendones redone?).

Vocals   -   8
When you first hear the CD, you will probably think “Man, those voices are off.”  I’m going to stop you right there because you’re wrong!  I thought the same thing when I heard a couple of songs.  After thoroughly listening to each song, I realized that they weren’t off key that was making them sound different, it was the fact that they have their own vocal style.  Some pitches will seem a little sharp, but if you keep listening to the music, you’ll notice the pattern: almost like a wave towards the end of the note, it will go out a little bit, and then come back to the correct pitch.  You may be saying “But Vince, that doesn’t sound good!”  Yes it does.  It reminds me of being in the rancho, or in my backyard barbecuing with people just singing and having fun.  Its very fun music, and the vocals give it that feel.

Music    -    8
The music here is pretty solid.  They’re not Jaime y Los Chamacos or Albert Zamora y Talento, but the music is really great.  Its executed well: straight to the point.  What’s the point?  PURO PINCHE CONJUNTO!  Arrangements are kept simple.  The accordion player has a very unique conjunto style (which is hard for accordion players to develop) and those drums are very clean.  Very good music all around.

Originality   -   9
As stated earlier, these guys have a very nice original sound.  They don’t cover songs that other bands do; this is usually a problem in the conjunto scene.  Yes, there are many conjuntos out there…BUT, a lot of them will play the same songs as the next two or three do.

Presentation    -    4
The CD layout is the only gripe I have here.  Don’t get me wrong, the color scheme is great (reminds me of Zapata!), but graphic-wise, it just doesn’t do it for me.  Of course, this has nothing to do with what they’re wearing, or how their photo was taken.  Graphics just aren’t one of Hacienda’s strong points.

Overall Score:   7.5

Final Thoughts:  The presentation hurt the scoring, but we’ll say musically this CD is an 8.5.  What does that mean?  It means you should go buy it!