‘Martyrs of Rock n’ Roll’: Los K’comxtles Rekindles Mexico’s Rebel Spirit
Written by djfrosty on March 13, 2025
In the words of its members, Los K’comxtles is “a living tribute” to the evolution of rock in Mexico. Led by Rubén Albarrán of Café Tacvba, the rockabilly supergroup is a multigenerational project that “bridges the past and the present to project it into the future,” the sextet’s vocalist tells Billboard Español.
In addition to Albarrán, Los K’comxtles is comprised of veteran musicians Rafael Acosta (Los Locos del Ritmo) and Rafael Miranda (Los Sleepers), both of whom were part of the famed Mexican rock scene of the 1950s and ’60s; Gato Rockabilly and Christian K’comxtle (Los Gatos) from the ’80s; and Choco Cizaña (La Cizaña) from the ’90s.
“It started with the idea of creating a rock n’ roll group, perhaps as an antidote to all the music we hear on the radio nowadays, which is basically the same and sounds identical — pasteurized, digitized, everything driven by an electronic click,” explains Albarrán. “Our approach leans more toward something organic, more natural, something that moves and vibrates the way only rock n’ roll can. That was the core idea.”
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The band emerged in 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has since released four singles on digital platforms. Among them is a reimagined version of a classic by Los Sleepers written 64 years ago, “Ojos de Araña,” as well as original songs — the most recent being “Mar de Amor,” whose music video premieres Friday (March 14). The video was filmed in Acapulco, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, which was devastated by the powerful Hurricane Otis in October 2023. “Mar de Amor” is described by the sextet as “a tribute to its beaches, sunrises, sunsets, human warmth, courage and a recognition of its people who fight and persevere.”
These and other songs can be heard live Sunday (March 16), when Los K’comxtles makes its debut at the Vive Latino festival, where the group will perform on the Carpa Intolerante stage. “Vive Latino is a huge showcase, and it’s a great opportunity for us to show off our rock n’ roll heart,” says Miranda.
For Albarrán, this musical project also represents an opportunity to honor the work of musicians such as Acosta and Miranda, who, alongside their bands Los Locos del Ritmo and Los Sleepers, confronted a conservative, “authoritarian and repressive” Mexican society. In their youth, these “martyrs of rock n’ roll,” as he calls them, endured criticism for the way they dressed, the type of songs they wrote and the rebellious spirit with which they chose to live, despite all obstacles.
“They confronted that society with great freedom and determination, committed to making music and living in a way they believed was transforming society — and they truly did transform it with their art and their way of being, to the point where we now enjoy many freedoms that we sometimes take for granted,” says the vocalist.
For Miranda, rock n’ roll has always been an act of resistance and a musical genre that has accompanied youth in their social struggles and artistic expressions.
“When we started out (in the ’60s), we were chased by the police for having long hair, wearing leather jackets, or playing this style of music,” he recalls. “We overcame those adversities, and others that came our way, but we were always convinced that rock n’ roll was our life. And here we are, still going strong.”