Discography of the studio recordings. Emblematic raw and dirty punk band that was formed in 1980 in Mexico City by the Varela brothers: Jorge Varela, drums (Igor RIP); Raúl Varela, guitar (El Perro) and David Varela, bass. They recorded two live cassettes and what this LP collects, their studio recordings: their EP titled "Death in America" ​​from the year 87 'and an LP titled "Pressed" from the year 89', both self-released by the band.


Our take: Xenofobia is one of the oldest and best-known punk bands to emerge from the 80s Mexican punk scene, and this LP on the new label Fuego a las Fronteras collects both of their studio recordings, 1987’s Muerte in America 7” and 1989’s Presionados LP, along with a thick full-color booklet featuring a band history (in Spanish and English) as well a ton of archival material. Xenofobia’s records have been reissued several times before (in fact, we carried a reissue of the Muerte in America 7” just a little while ago), but these recordings are crucial to the story of worldwide punk and should remain in print as long as possible. Xenofobia started in 1980 and coalesced around a group of three brothers—Jorge, David, and Raul Varela Aguilar—whose parents valued music and made musical education a priority for their children. However, despite being skilled musicians, Xenofobia remained dedicated to their rough and nasty hardcore sound. Though their 7” and 12” came out 7 and 9 years into the band’s history, both recordings keep the raw and wild character that draws comparisons to international bands like Disorder, Chaos UK, Wretched, and Negazione. Like those bands, there’s something very musical at the core of Xenofobia’s songs that elevates them above thrashing gestalt and gives them the power of classic hardcore songs. The music collected here is unimpeachable (and is reproduced with great sound quality), but the full-color booklet is just as exciting. It can be difficult just to hear recordings of a lot of the classic Mexican punk bands, but the archival material in this booklet gives me one of the clearest pictures I’ve found yet of Mexico’s fascinating and unique 80s punk scene. Kudos to Fuego a las Fronteras for giving these landmark recordings the top of the line reissue they deserve.