From Houston to Tijuana to Chicago, norteño is amazingly competitive; in places with a large Mexican population, norteño is as competitive as salsa/Afro-Cuban music is in Miami and merengue and bachata are in Santo Domingo. Some younger Mexicans might think of norteño as old-fashioned and consider it "dad's music"; they're more likely to be into rock en español, Latin pop, or rap. But not all younger Mexicans feel that way about norteño, and plenty of Mexicans in their teens and twenties are joining norteño bands and finding out just how much competition they're facing. Realistically, the vast majority of new (or relatively new) norteño bands will never become as famous as
Los Tucanes de Tijuana or
Los Huracanes del Norte. But if
Zaino's debut album,
Entregate, is any indication, the Monterrey, Mexico, outfit (which already had a local following when they signed with Fonovisa in 2004) has great potential both commercially and creatively. The songs are memorable more often than not, and
Zaino have a major asset in lead singer/founder/accordion player Pedro Guzmán. Guzmán sings with an appealing, melancholy drawl that conveys world-weariness; there are parallels between Guzmán's vocal style and country singers like
Merle Haggard and
Dwight Yoakam -- and his voice is perfect for
Zaino's tales of sadness, heartbreak, and romantic disillusionment. The song titles say it all -- titles like "A Pesar di Mi Dolor" (In Spite of My Pain), "Me Dejaste Llorando" (You Left Me Crying), and "No Podre Sobrevivir" (I Won't Be Able to Survive). When you translate
Zaino's song titles from español into ingles,
Entregate reads like a honky tonk compilation -- and again, Guzmán reminds listeners of the things that country and norteño have in common.
Entregate isn't quite as consistent as it could have been, but overall,
Zaino show considerable promise on their first album. ~ Alex Henderson