POP MUSIC REVIEW : Caifanes Mixes Alternative Energy, Mexican Tradition

“Not only Anglo rock has given something to us. Also the music of Agustin Lara, Los Panchos and Beny More.” When Saul Hernandez, lead singer of Caifanes, made that statement to the capacity audience near the end of the band’s concert Sunday at the Palace, he acknowledged the presence of Latin classic bolero composers in Caifanes’ music.

The quintet, one of the few rock bands that have attained commercial success in the rigid Mexican pop mainstream, proceeded to demonstrate Hernandez’s point with an acoustic version of “Vamos a Hacer Un Silencio” (“Let’s Make a Silence”), a song they usually play in their alternative-rock style.

Caifanes’ music also reflects the influence of English rock bands such as the Cure, along with traditional Mexican elements. During the two-hour performance, the group played most of the songs from its latest album “El Silencio.” On songs such as “Metamorfeame” they showed their rock energy, and they exhibited their ability to blend rock with Mexican musical textures in songs such as “Hasta Morir” (“ ‘Till Death”) and the hit “La Celula que Explota” (“The Cell That Explodes”).