POP MUSIC REVIEW : ‘El Guateque’ Shows Range of Local Acts

Welcome to El Rock de la Carcel. Or as Elvis put it, “Jailhouse Rock.”

“El Guateque”--”The Celebration”--is perhaps the most representative annual get-together for L.A.’s growing underground rock en espanol scene. The second edition, at Aztlan Cultural Foundation (the site of the old Los Angeles jail in Lincoln Heights)--drew a crowd of about 800 and ran from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The event, which raised funds and food for the homeless in Chiapas, was a showcase for nine local Chicano alternative bands and two from Baja California, all surrounded by a miniature rocanrol swap meet. The festival was a textbook example of how to run a peaceful show, but the music was uneven.

Los Olvidados and Voz D’Mano were the more solid local acts in a roster that included 15 Letras, Cabula, Juana La Loca, Motita, Aurora Negra, Verdadera Fe and B.C.’s Penumbra.

But it was L.A.’s Yeska (a ‘50s Chicano term for marijuana) and Tijuana’s Mexican Jumping Frijoles that left the strongest impressions. Yeska, a powerful instrumental eight-piece combo with an unusual mix of ska and Afro-Cuban rhythms, showed an irresistible groove, especially in numbers such as Damaso Perez Prado’s classic “Moliendo Cafe.”

The Jumping Frijoles, one of Tijuana’s best unsigned bands, are a loud and unpredictable quintet: Rage Against the Machine meets the Chili Peppers meets pure nonsense avant-garde punk/speed/metal/funk, with long improvisations, lots of power and a few conventional songs that end abruptly whenever they feel like it.