September 2003

Las Ketchup's Las Ketchup

The best thing about Las Ketchup is that they freely advertise that their future has "One Hit Wonder" written all over it. Their big hit is called "The Ketchup Song". They are Las Ketchup. Their album's US title is Las Ketchup (in Europe it's Hijas del Tomate, still not too far off). And four of the eleven songs on Las Ketchup are some version or other of "The Ketchup Song". Ketchup. Ketchup. Ketchup. They know that's all there is.

"Kusha las Payas" is their chance to escape their evident fate. It's another fun and catchy dance song about partying all night long. Its sound is distinctly different from the hip-hop inspired "The Ketchup Song" and shows that the women of Las Ketchup can keep those European dance floors packed if they work hard enough. "Van a cerrar, me tengo que ir,/ Voy a otra fiesta, yo no quiero dormir." When one club closes, another opens. And they're all playing Las Ketchup's tune.

The fifth track, "Sevillanas Pink", is a joke. Imagine taking Univision's telenovelas and merging them with their variety shows. Then make it a song. The story: One of their former classmates has had a sex change and is now Pedro. "Ay! Mi papa cuando descubrí…" The last bars of the song really hammer it home with the signature "uh-oh" music from a TV score that has passed the line of merely ridiculous. This turned an otherwise pleasant, if somewhat lifeless, tune into a farce.

The rest of the CD is just filler. I wouldn't jump to turn it off, but I also can't think of any reason not to. Don't get me wrong. The filler songs aren't bad enough to keep people from dancing. Far from it. Las Ketchup supplies dance club fodder through the whole album. But the novelty of a song like "Tengo un Novio Tantriko" (English: I have a tantric fiance) wears away quickly so that eventually it's only good for making Spanish translation practice more interesting.