As Como Las Movies have grown as a group, they’ve lived up to their name more and more with a self-described synth-cumbia sound that is as visual as it is musical. Director Andy Ray Lemon beautifully channels that aspect of the band in the video for “El Beso,” which serves as an homage to the VHS aesthetic of early music videos as well as the son jarocho style of the music, augmented as it is with Como Las Movies’ signature New Wave synths. Nelson Valente Aguilar told us that son jarocho musical performances “usually feature women dancing (zapateando) on a tarima (a wooden box where dancers perform the zapteada),” and bandmate Rene Chavez suggested that instead of having the dancers zapateando, they could do more modern dance instead. So they recruited Jennifer Sherburn of the 11:11 project, who presented them with choreography that was more eerie than they had initially imagined but fit perfectly with the mood they were creating with Lemon, who is well-known for his pulpy VHS style. We think the result is a refreshing twist on ’80s nostalgia that will give your Halloween some cumbia flavor, take a look and then catch Como Las Movies right on Halloween at Spider House Ballroom for the second annual Werewolf Bar Mitzvah!
