First demo circa 1999
The Swing Ding Amigos were originally from Nogales, but spent most of their existence in Tucson after brothers, Isaac and Levi Reyes, along with El Jimmy moved up here. This early recording finds them still a little wet behind the ears and still really pumped on Scared of Chaka, their most obvious influence at this point. They would eventually evolve a sound of their own that was faster and tighter than Scared of Chaka and just as catchy. I think the most interesting song here is the last one “About Today” which was a hidden track and doesn’t sound like any of the other songs on here. Some people might know this as the Ramen demo, because other versions have a Top Ramen cover, but I think I got one from a batch of one-of-a kind hand made CD-Rs probably thrown together for some out of town shows. Or I could be wrong and that might be a whole different demo. I got to spend a lot of time on the road with these guys when they would travel with the Blacks. They are extremely fun guys to hang out with. Currently Isaac is kicking ass with Lenguas Largas who Levi was also playing with until about a month ago when he moved to Phoenix. Brandon Ugstad and I are supposed to make a record with El Jimmy, doing a bunch of songs he wrote, and we were hoping to do that this summer, but we’ve been so busy with other projects we haven’t had a chance to even meet up yet. This is the first of many great recordings by this band that I will eventually post.
Cooler Lounge, the BLACKS, Swing Dings, Whobart! and that's all i got to say 'bout that!
ReplyDeleteYup that's the one. About 5 seconds after the photo was taken Isaac launched himself off stage, onto a table that collapsed, hit the sound man, got kicked out of the bar, proceeded to call sound man a pussy faggot and lit off fireworks in the parking lot for the rest of the show. Or was that a different time?
ReplyDeleteHope you're well Dog.
Spent the night hanging with Calento and Sidwell. Good times now and then.
Wow this is awesome thanks so much! I didn't even know this existed.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any other stuff from these guys?
sorry to show up 6 years after the fact... but, does anyone have any info about an album from these guys called 'panocha hawk'?? ive obtained a digital copy, but cant seem to find any info regarding it at all.
ReplyDelete