The Copper Gamins

Los Niños de Cobre (Saustex)

Central Mexico’s lo-fi garage duo, José Carmen and Claus Lafania, deconstruct blues into a lowdown rumble of string-wrenching riffs and dislocated drum beats on debut long-player Los Niños de Cobre. Seventeen street fights kick off at a peak with traditional hide-and-seek chant “All Hid,” which showcases Carmen’s raspy English, then settles into a same-y sequence of reverberating fuzz guitar and novice drumming, hampered by slipshod production that, particularly on “Is This All Mine,” constitutes practice-tape quality. Highlights persevere, nonetheless: “You Keep Around” struts with brazen attitude over staccato crunch and mutilated slide soloing, plus a cover of “Angelitos Negros” brings beautiful Spanish lyricism from the Forties into play. Los Niños de Cobre delivers elemental, unflashy work, suitably not silver or gold, just copper. (8pm, Javelina)

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This article appears in March 14 • 2014.

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