Celebrate 20 Years of La Gusana Ciega with Merlina reissue
Mexican rock band, La Gusana Ciega rereleased Merlina in May 2016Â to celebrate 20 years of music. While the group initially formed in 1993, their first studio album Merlina was released in 1996 on an indie label in Mexico.
This year, to celebrate, the band reissued Merlina as a deluxe album which includes five demo tracks from the band’s early years. It’s hard to classify this reissue as 2016 or 1996, so we will categorize this as both. We are pretty new to La Gusana Ciega, so this seems to be a good time to start our venture into 20 years of Mexican rock music.
La Gusana Ciega has had its share of successes; Grammy nods and soundtracks selections for major motion pictures. They have also had their share of downfalls; one of which was the disbandment in 2002. That breakup was short-lived as they returned for a reunion tour three years later.
 Merlina has a lot of good potential for La Gusana Ciega’s debut album
Merlina presents a novice band who had yet perfected a great rock album. Their roots are from Mexico’s underground rock scene of the ’90s, and the album shows that. It is dark in certain songs and light in others with hints of classic new wave and rock.
The demo tracks that were added to the Deluxe reissue are cool. “Nada Raro” reminds me of an early Caifanes. Each of the songs has an acoustic appeal with minimal guitars and drums only.
As I venture into the world of rock from the ’90s, I think I will keep La Gusana Ciega on my watch list. The album has a lot of good potential. The band has begun a tour of Mexico this year to promote the 20th anniversary of their first album.
You can follow La Gusana Ciega on Twitter at @lagusanaciega.
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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