Mariachi El Bronx IV finds the Los Angeles collective deepening the unlikely experiment that began in 2008 as the alter ego of their original punk side, the Bronx. What once seemed like a silly side quest has long since become its own serious saga, one that honors the Hispanic music and culture that built the city’s concrete and canyon walls.

From the jump, Mariachi El Bronx IV brims with characters who feel pulled from the present tense. Gamblers chasing one last hand. Retired romeos nursing old wounds. Warriors and lovers navigating a world that feels permanently on edge. The band has always insisted that punk and mariachi are spiritually entwined, both forged in working class storytelling and emotional candor. On this album, that belief sounds undeniable.

The single “RIP Romeo” carries that weight with particular grace. Built around a melody that refused to leave vocalist Matt Caughthran’s head, the song came together quickly with violinist Ray Suen, who also co-wrote it. The collaboration rekindled a creative spark the two had not tapped in years. As Caughthran wrestled with unfinished lyrics, his family was grieving the loss of his aunt to cancer. That grief seeped into the song’s marrow. Lines like “How could this happen to you, it’s cruel and it’s tragic” and the stark refrain “Amor es muerte” land with the gravity of real-life experience. What could have been overwrought instead feels intimate, even fragile.

That duality runs through the album. During recording sessions with longtime producer John Avila (Oingo Boingo) in the San Gabriel Valley, wildfires tore across the region. Guitarist Joby Ford recalls stepping outside the studio to see hillsides ablaze. At the same time, Caughthran was navigating both loss and the joy of getting married. Love and death, ash and celebration, all braided together.

Musically, the band sounds as confident as ever. Trumpets ache with drama. Strings soar for the blue skies above. Vince Hidalgo, son of Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, adds a pedigree that reinforces the band’s deep connection to tradition. And thanks to that connection, Mariachi El Bronx IV feels necessary right now. After ten years away from the studio, the band returns to document the emotional weather of now. In their hands, mariachi remains what punk has always been at its best, real music for real lives sung loud enough to cut through the L.A. haze.