Sharks Eat Meat: September 2025

Sunday, September 28, 2025

DAY 4583 - Yellowstone National Park, Fall

Photography by Mike Coulter

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Friday, September 26, 2025

Monday, September 22, 2025

NEW MUSIC ALERT! - El Santo Golpe: Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo

INCOMING: NEW MUSIC ALERT! - El Santo Golpe: Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo -

It is always a treat to hear music from El Santo Golpe.

Scratch that - Rewind…

When El Santo Golpe launches fresh music, you stop what you’re doing and listen immediately. This EP is no small ‘snack’ or mere ‘treat.’ Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo is a meaty feast for your ears and soul - a hearty, healthy, and fulfilling four-course, five-star musical meal.

El Santo Golpe’s newest four-song EP is a celebration of rhythm and rebellion. Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo continues the lineage of the group’s earlier works like “Sueños” and “Porqué Será,” by offering music that is genuinely fun, memorable, and meaningful. El Santo Golpe has a steady record of delivering uplifting, community-centered music and Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo affirms and solidifies the Riverside-based collective’s reputation for crafting vibrant, dance-driven music that fluidly bridges tradition and innovation.

From the opening beats, you’ll be met with intricate percussion, buoyant basslines, and ample accordion. Ulises “Cheese” Rodríguez and Roxanna Valtierra’s vocals compliment and contrast one another profoundly. The duo’s lyrics add a well-balanced, full, buttery plate of powerfully potent prose and prowess, content and form, to the sophisticated yet approachable instrumentation of the collective. Masterful, playfully mathematical, and maniacal percussion fills and overflows each track, dispensing machine-like structure, alluring ornamentation, and mood-setting, heart-pounding beats. With avant-garde drum-work like this, Danny Orozco surely must be some sort of eight-armed spiderman. These brilliant artists have an arsenal of genres at their disposal embracing cumbia, jarana jarocha, joropo, and other Afro-Latino and Caribbean styles.

Starting off the EP, “Mi Santa Cumbia” comes in hot and hypnotic, sporting a heavy accordion a-hummin’ and a contagiously catchy chorus. “Mi Santa Cumbia” is a rhythmic ride ready to whip the whole neighborhood in a dancing frenzy.

“Rey De Reyes” draws you in like a cyclone and takes you on a journey. This cumbia shines with a strutting guitar that seamlessly splices serene wah-wahs, oscillating like a yo-yo, with unforgettable riffs that kick like a bull. “Rey De Reyes” conjures ghostly echoes of Los Mirlos and Caifanes with mysterious, psychedelic organ flourishes that inject a hazy chicha or smokey Western flavor to the mix. “Rey De Reyes” encourages you to free your mind and your feet - follow the stars, chase your dreams, break boundaries, and cross borders.

“Luna Negra” is a fiery, folk-fueled fusion of tropical traditions and outlaw rock that righteously rings out with a brave spirit of revolution. The inspiring interplay of the vocalist’s verbose and varied use of chorus and verse is personally poetic and plurally primal. Powerful themes of resistance and protest are stanchioned with an angelic Andean-style staccato strum, supportive effected electric guitar, and a full roster of tones and textures.

“Animal” is an explosive, quick-tempoed track with a racing and rolling bassline that doesn’t stop, infectious accordion hooks sharper than claws, and a poignantly progressive and wild spirit that rivals Yoko Kanno’s. “Animal” is a raucous party and my personal favorite from a staunchly strong and well-balanced EP - a powerhouse of a rich dessert that finishes the EP with confidence and strength. Swelling with cosmic energy “Animal” is beyond international - it’s intergalactic.

Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo is graced with cover art by Adam “More Leaders.” The print depicts a ring of dancers, farmers, and laborers, young and old, in a striking black and white design that has the impressively eloquent flair and competency of an M.C. Escher etching. The work displays delicate line and hatching that showcase the diverse subjects and scenery both visually and thematically interconnected communally. The round interwoven form and composition evokes unity and encourages intimate interaction, turning or physically rotating the artwork, investigation, and exploration. The art provides intricate technical details for viewers to revel and marvel in, and is a dynamic visual which complements El Santo Golpe’s sonic vibrancy.

Final verdict: Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo is heartfelt, stylishly spicy, sophisticatedly spacey, and simply sirenic.

You can see El Santo Golpe live regularly in the greater Los Angeles area including venues and cultural events in Riverside and East L.A.. If you’re a fan of groups such as Rodrigo y Gabriela, Spaghetti Cumbia, or Chicha Libre follow the links below. El Santo Golpe’s Pa’ Que Baile El Pueblo is available now on all streaming platforms:

Bandcamp: https://elsantogolpe.bandcamp.com/album/pa-que-baile-el-pueblo

Youtube: https://youtu.be/7dI4YP2BuSs?si=CkI38aREuWbvc1EK

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7iv4uIxC9wzxYnLsRjOvHd

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/pa-que-baile-el-pueblo-ep/1838506438

Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0FQ71CSL6

Website: https://www.elsantogolpe.com/

Instagram: @elsantogolpe

EP CREDITS:

Ulises Rodríguez: Lead Vocals, Accordion, Jarana, Organ

Roxanna Valtierra: Lead Vocals, Guiro, Shekere

Danny Orozco: Drums

Alex Reyes: Bass