Ssik
Whitout any shadow of doubt, Kiss is one of the most influential groups of the world and the list of tribute bands grows everyday in an exponential way. Let me introduce you to Ssik, a quintet born in the heart of Mexico. There are hundreds of groups dedicated to recreate the music of Kiss and these guys shine all the way with a very original product.
First of all, the image of the band is the result of a bizarre mix between the members of Slipknot and some star from the Mexican wrestling league. Secondly, the songs are sung in Spanish. As you can guess, this is a very interesting detail for the people who speak this language.
The band members are Miguel “Lagarto” on voices, Felipe Chacon on drums, Israel Espinoza on bass and Agustin Garcia & Omar Ramirez on guitars. The guys from Ssik have just release their debut album and you can listen to some of their tunes in the group’s My Space.
The sound of these songs represents quite conventionally the spirit of 76 but with one very significant differene: the voices vaguely remember to Brujeria. The final result is, at least, singular. The surprise comes from the hand of Comin’ home in which Ssik raise the bet with an exquisite pop version inspired by 1996′s “MTV Unplugged”.
From Mexico with love
In 1981, Mexico became the first country of Latin America to ever receive the visit of Kiss. The band needed to get new markets because their actions in the United States and Europe were in loss. A year before they had untied madness in Australia and with that impulse they went towards the land of the iguanas.
Kiss arrived at Mexico in a promotional plan so there were no live shows. Instead, the band dedicated their time to demonstrate that they weren’t the bad boys of Rock and Roll. During those years, the group was labeled as a threat for the moral in many countries around the world. Here is a piece of the review that made the Revista Rock Pop on this historical event.
… That time, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Eric Carr, arrived at the Benito Juarez airport, in Mexico City, on September 25, and there were some problems between the press photographers and the band’s guards of security, since it was forbbiden to portray them without the make up, although the group members had their faces covered in a bandit style.
They stayed in the Hotel Camino Real, where they offer a press conference answering questions of all type, including one where they were asked if they had been affected by the yellow pages published about them.
“Yes, it affected us. Apparently in Mexico, everything about rock music is related to satanism. It’s a shame that they don’t inform properly of each case because, for example, they adjudged us to be degenerate drug addicts and without at least knowing us”.
The group visited the Orfanato La Asuncion, located in Atizapan de Zaragoza, where near 300 children, politely seated, applauded the group to its arrival. Soon they approached to greet them and Gene Simmons was very emotional.
On the following day, they went to Canal 13 studio to record a program where they were interviewed by Jimmy Fortz and where they also played some of their more popular songs of that time such as I was made for lovin’ you and Charisma. With this showcase, the band concluded its visit to the country promising to return soon…
