If you don’t frequent any of our area’s many Mexican bodegas or taco joints then, first, something is wrong with you. But, second, you might not know that Orlando band Los Jarritos take their name from a Mexican soft drink in homage to their origin as the surviving members of Bobby Clock & the Soda Pops.
Los Jarritos, the band, are the duo of Orlando outsider icon Ray Brazen and drummer Cesar Marquez. In their first couple of years, they’ve primarily only dropped a handful of fast-and-dirty singles on Soundcloud. But recently, Los Jarritos made their most formal release to date with new album Lifers. Besides their most extensive collection, it’s also their most crafted. That, of course, is all relative when it comes to Brazen.
“As usual I recorded us live and direct lo-fi, so this is crude as hell,” he says. “But it’s all as it sounds at Cesar’s palace where this music was created, and as always this is part of the plan, a recording directly influenced by its surroundings and all those wonderful Saturday afternoons leading up to this finished product.”
The eight-song Lifers provides the most comprehensive portrait of Los Jarritos so far. It’s a shaggy romp of garage, punk and power pop. There are even nice little jaunts into surf (“Chili Candy”) and jangle pop (“Take Me Back to June”). Mostly though, these songs are economical rockers that are all slash and bash. With a direct attack but an offbeat sensibility, they’re little bottle rockets of personality whose wild sparks fly free.
Lyrically, Lifers packs themes personal to the band, including nods to their local milieu, their love of Mexican band Los Dug Dug’s (“Eclipse” is a Dug Dug’s cover) and Brazen’s colorful experiences in underground culture (“Lifers”). And with the lyric “We are lifers, we will never change, it doesn’t matter if you think we’re strange,” the title track nutshells the essence of both Los Jarritos and Brazen himself.
As Los Jarritos solidify with trusted wingman Marquez by his side, the picture that’s emerging is one of Ray Brazen in his most inspired form in many years. Lifers is available only on Bandcamp, which is still pretty official for a DIY-or-die guy like Brazen.
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This article appears in May 1-7, 2024.
