Willard's Wormholes

Tarantism (1997)
Rock & Boogie Blues: Mexicali Style

My first dose of Tito & Tarantula was seeing the crazed, south of the border barroom scene in the Robert Rodriguez (& Quinten Tarantino) flick, From Dusk Till Dawn (watch below). The band performed two songs, a raging “Angry Roaches” and the hypnotically sultry “After Dark,” receiving equal screen time with a ravishing Selma Hayek. Tito Larriva’s history in the music biz dates back to 70s punkers, The Plugz, and Mex-roots rockers, The Cruzados. His acting career has helped to draw attention to the obscure, but outrageously cool, Tito & Tarantula, mixing Texas boogie blues rock with a Mexicali aesthetic. He’s also been a regular in other Rodriquez films, Desperado, Once Upon A Time In Mexico and that cool Machete trailer from the Grindhouse project. Rodriguez, a hot-shot guitarist in his own right (check out the incredible Chingon), co-produces this self-released debut. Amazon.

After Dark (3:44)
Smilling Karen (3:58)
Slippin‘ And Slidin‘ (3:43)
Strange Face (5:38)
Angry Cockroaches (4:39)
Back To The House (That Love Built) (4:32)
Jupiter (6:08)
Sweet Cycle (4:58)
Flying In My Sleep (3:58)
Killing Just For Fun (4:23)

THE PLUGZ Electrify Me (1978)
THE PLUGZ Better Luck (1981)
PSYCHOTIC AZTECS Santa Sangre (1998)
Tip Of The Iceberg

Here’s a small sampling of some earlier work from Tito Larriva. The Plugz are largely considered one of the very first LA punk bands, though, their early spiky take on raw, ragged rock (now) pales in intensity to what would follow (hear “The Cause,” below). It’s still effective, though. Electrify Me was their 1978 debut, but I’m often drawn to 1981′s Better Luck, as the band widened their horizons beyond punk, while keeping much of the spike (hear “Red Eye #9“). If you ever give one of those music ‘Blindfold Tests,’ “Red Eye #9′”s a must use – as unknowing listeners will be totally confused by the Roger McGuinn vocals and Monkees production. The Psychotic Aztecs’ Santa Sangre, from 1998, is defined more by the darker, heavier, more ethnic edge Larriva’s work developed in later years – the kind of stuff that initially drew me to the guy in the first place (hear “Levantate“). Electrify Me goes for a couple of hundred bucks at Amazon, if you’re looking for a hard copy. Good luck with Better Luck, since there are zero used copies even available. Fortunately, you can still find The Psychotic Aztecs cheap.