Working hard, or hardly working... a look at PROFUGOS.

Los Prófugos, (The Fugitives) or just PROFUGOS as they call themselves nowadays, is a band from San Luis Potosí, Mexico. I first heard of them  in late '08 and back then I thought they really had a lot going for them. I received some of their demo songs from someone inside the band, I don't remember who it was... but I like them and still keep them on rotation in my iTunes library.

Today, I sit here contemplating just how much progress they have made in the amount of time I haven't heard from them and all I can say is that something must've gotten lost somewhere along the way.

It's kinda weird but I've always thought of this band as a marriage between The Rolling Stones and U2. I heard their latest tracks recently on myspace and all-in-all they're fairly easy on the ears. I had already gotten used to and enjoyed their demo material from '08, but the incorporation of electronic elements via sequencers and other devices is a welcome one. I would've probably  toned it down a bit, though. It sometimes seems like they just wanted to fill certain songs with something and the only thing around was a keyboard but they ran out of ideas pretty quick. Their lyrics are simple and easy to sing along to in most instances and that's always a good thing in my book. But one thing that's always bothered me is when bands from México (or other Latin countries) decide to write and sing in English in an effort to... I don't know... Cross over?! To what I have to say; if you don't know the language, don't Freaking do it!!

Prófugos is among those bands I'm talking about, whether it's an all-English song or a mix of both languages to gain acceptance in a broader market, as is the case of "Prismas" or "Mary Di" ...If your grammar is wrong and your pronunciation is weak, it's NOT gonna work. Which brings me to my next observation... The singer is, in my opinion, the band's weakest link. I give him some credit for at least trying to create his own style, but I think it lacks technique and the recordings suffer because of it. More effort should go into execution and not style. The quality of their new recordings is very decent and has been improving since the time I first heard of them. In think, however; that one of the best laid out and better-sounding tracks is the remix version of "Me Siento Mejor" most likely done by a DJ and not someone in the band. I bet that whoever made it had "fun" trying to make the vocals work for this track.

Overall, I think that PROFUGOS is a good band and that their shortcomings can be easily overcome with time and effort. They need to step outside themselves, see and hear what needs to be corrected and do it. But more importantly, they need to stop slacking... Other than that, they could be on their way to becoming a GREAT band. You can hear their music and more on their myspace page.

  Los Profugos - Me siento mejor