Review: The Cires - Danza De Soles

One of the reasons I started the Hayward Herald is to better understand what's going on in my hometown. It's easy to think that nothing happens here when it's so hard to find out what's happening. I trawl Instagram daily to make up for it and occasionally find a real gem. That's how I discovered The Cires and it's a crime it took so long for them to come on my radar.

One of the bands that I've always loved but never found anyone quite like is The Pillows. They're a Japanese band who many may know from the soundtrack to the anime FLCL. Their sound always felt so unique to me, both old school and somehow new, with a sound that was grungy but also melancholy. Some of their songs still give me a feeling no other bands have.

At least until recently. Many of the songs on Danza De Soles fit into that strange spot that I've been looking to grow for years. A kind of melancholy but determined sound that, especially when sung in Spanish, scratches that same spot in my brain. So with that in mind, let's get to know The Cires and dig into their new album, Danza De Soles.

Working Class Artists

According to their website, this four-person band composed of brothers Isaac, Edwin, Shannon, and Cessar Soto are Hayward raised and grew up playing covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Beatles and classic Spanish rock and roll. The bilingual brothers have been playing together for over a decade, starting with quinceñeras and weddings before landing gigs at places ranging Bottom of the Hill to our own Bistro on B Street.

The band is, in many ways, representative of the Mexican-American experience in Hayward. They grew up in a seven-person household in Cherryland after emigrating from Zapopan, Jalisco. Eldest brother Isaac was deported back to Mexico at a young age until his family fought to have him returned. After hearing about devastation in Central America during the pandemic, they raised over $3,000 for families in Honduras and Central America with a fundraiser livestream in December 2020.

And like many in our community, they're struggling despite success. They are currently hosting a GoFundMe to pay for medical bills for their father, Ruben, who is suffering from Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. And even while they find success, it took them two years to record their most recent album on spare weekends at a storage facility turned recording studio in Fremont. They still work day jobs and try to make ends meet like everyone else, with music being a passion more than a job.

Despite only really being a serious hobby, the band has put out three albums over the years. The most recent of which is Danza De Soles, which just released this September.

Cosmic Mexican Vibes

With a title that roughly translates to "Dance of Suns" the album does, at times, feel very cosmic. Many songs have big dramatic strums with a fuzzy sound to them that recall floating in space. Hace Tiempo opens with the kind of sound that evokes hurtling through orbit while still being enough of a rock song to avoid any kind of trippy vibes.

The tempo of the album tends to alternate between slower and more urgent beats that makes you want to move. But underlying all of them is a feeling of melancholy or yearning. Most of the songs are in Spanish, and although I'm pretty good, I still have trouble picking up some of the lyrics.

My favorite track, Luna, could be just as easily be about a person as the moon itself. There's a driven longing in the song that is reinforced by both the steady up-tempo beat, the near-shouting lyrics from Isaac, and the Santana-esque guitar solo. This feels like pursuing something you know you'll never get, but have to chase anyway.

Circulos, which was released as a single in advance of the full album, has a surf-rock beach party feeling at the beginning, but the chorus returns to that feeling of cosmic expansiveness. The lyrics, which are thankfully available on the single's page, are about feeling lost and confused.

¿A donde vamos? (Where are we going?)
¿En donde estamos? (Where are we?)
¿Es donde soñaste estar? (Is it where you dreamed of being?)

Going The Distance, which is one of the two English tracks on the album, seems to be about navigating a long-distance relationship. It touches on how difficult it is to maintain and the complicated feeling of wanting to leave someone, not because you don't care about them, but because staying with them is too difficult.

But Danza De Soles has a variety of different feelings and tempos. From the toe-tapping rhythm of the title track Danza De Soles to the more high school slow-dance feel of No Supiste. The latter of which wouldn't have been out of place at the 1950's dance in Back To The Future--its synth organ add to the old-school feel of this ballad.

No supiste aprender (You didn't know how to learn)
No supiste tenerme (You didn't know how to have me)
Y aquí estoy pensando en ti (And here I am thinking of you)
Aunque tu no pienses en mi. (Even though you aren't thinking about me)

Lastly, one of my favorites is the closing song on the album: Lluvia Lenta en Zapopan. This is an acoustic track with back-up vocals from their sister is a folk song for a lost home. Zapopan is the city in Jalisco, Mexico from where the family emigrated. The family, like many immigrant families, doubtless has feelings of loss and longing around their home country. And this song is a beautiful recollection of why they love and miss it.

Lluvia lenta en Zapopan (Slow rain in Zapopan)
Como quiero el mundia regresar (How I want the world to return)
A tus calles cuentan historias (Stories are told on your streets)
Cada esquina que me hace volar (Every corner that makes me fly)
Lluvia lenta en Zapopan (Slow rain in Zapopan)

Danza De Soles is an album that fit into a spot in my music library that had been looking for company for a long time. The Pillows hit my ears over 20 years ago and The Cires somehow feel acoustically related in ways I can't fully explain. I just hope that we can continue to cultivate local talent like this throughout our city. They're a testament to what our sleepy town can produce when given a chance.

Is there a local musician, artist, or culture maker you think we should know about? Let us know! Contact us by email, in the comments, or DM us on social media.