‘Un niño ve la cruz, En la arena, Flores secas, Madera sin pena, Quien murio aquí? Pregunta al viento’ (Cruces) / ‘A child sees the cross, In the sand, Withered flowers, Wood without sorrow, Who died here? He asks the wind’ (Crosses)

Although now based in Austin, Mujeres Podridas (Rotten Women), who feature members of Wiccans and Nosferatu, were born in the Rio Grande Valley that runs along the southernmost stretch of the Mexico-Texas border.  Sangre Y Sol (Blood And Sun), the band’s second full-length and follow up to 2021’s Muerte En Paraíso (Death In Paradise), continues to be shaped by the violence, poverty, and intolerance that stalk the region.

Yet, while the band’s lyrical concerns are indelibly shaped by this lived experience, their sound is one rooted much more in the traditions of Southern California punk.  Propulsive rhythms and infectious surf-tinged guitars form the tightly crafted bedrock, although laced with a sombre melodicism that belies the album’s darker themes.  These elements are matched with strident Spanish vocals courtesy of Dru Molina (formerly of Criatures and Kurrakä), whose delivery is a touch more restrained than on those earlier projects, which affords space for plenty of catchily melodic hooks.

Kicking off an album with an instrumental always seems a courageous move, but it works perfectly with opener Aqua Peligrosa (Dangerous Water), the brightly freewheeling solos interwoven with samples from the region’s history of state violence and disenfranchisement.  The scene now set, the momentum never sags for even a moment from the serpentine leads of Sol (Sun) to the surging urgency of El Río Grande, and then from the swelling melancholy of Cruces to the more introspective Ovni II (UFO II).