The name El Centro, which (for the aid of our non-Spanish speaking readers) translates to "the center", is an ironic and apt title for this band. The reason: El Centro, not unlike much of the Orange County punk scene from which they hail, seems to proudly take its place in the middle of the relevance-meter, sitting comfortably on the fence between greatness and utter musical debacle.
The band has been playing together since the late nineties. They have toured with Bad Religion, TSOL, and Guttermouth. They have played on a few Warped Tours. They have toured locally. Simply put: they have had tons of experience in the music scene. Thus, it makes it all the more unfortunate when a band like this releases an album that sounds incongruously similar to the other up and coming reggae-infused punk bands out there.
Prohibido is your run of the mill punk record. The production is decent. The hooks, both musical and vocal, are catchy. Moreover, El Centro (as the name might suggest) tends to incorporate Spanish riffs: the basslines are lively and vivacious, and the guitars lines are full of reggae upstrokes. While this may sound rather interesting, the whole reggae-punk sound has been done before and better by bands like Sublime (whom this band borrows heavily from), The Clash, and even Rancid. El Centro's sound is a far cry from the musical ingenuity that their press release extols, and yet it is adequate enough to rank them above a fair amount of the budding bands in the scene. Consequently, this places them in "the center" (how's that for artistic unity?).
If you are a fan of reggae and punk, you will probably enjoy reggae-punk. If you are a fan of reggae-punk you will probably enjoy Sublime, The Clash, and Rancid. If you are a fan of Sublime, The Clash, and Rancid you may be stirred by the first few listens through Prohibido, but the feeling is temporary. After some more rotations you will lose interest and this record will eventually find its way into the dark closet where you hide the rest of the lackluster albums that you have grown weary of.
2/4
