Serás

Album Review

Rock en español has never been a major focus at Fonovisa (certainly not as of late 2006), which has concentrated heavily on the regional Mexican market and is well known for catering to norteño, banda, ranchera, duranguense and grupero enthusiasts. Nonetheless, Fonovisa has dabbled in rock en español on occasion, and their first album, Seras, is among Fonovisa's more rock-minded releases. The duo Ose definitely favor the pop-drenched side of rock en español; in fact, Fonovisa hasn't even listed this slick, glossy effort as rock en español but rather, as strictly Latin pop. And that is probably for the best because rock en español's hardliners — the sort of folks who claim that Maná is too commercial — are not going to be endorsing radio-friendly tracks like "No Digas" and "Te Amaré." So by listing Seras as Latin pop and not as rock en español, Fonovisa avoids the possibility of receiving angry letters from people who expected this 45-minute CD to sound like Caifanes, Maldita Vecindad, Babasónicos or los Fabulosos Cadillacs — which it most certainly does not. Ose operates in a very middle of the road place, providing sentimental pop/rock that isn't terribly challenging but is generally likable and catchy — and even though the duo's members are Mexican, Seras clearly is not aimed at the regional Mexican audience. Rather, Ose is a group that — like many other Mexican artists with a rock en español/Latin pop focus — aims for an across-the-board appeal in the Spanish-speaking world (as opposed to, say, a banda act with a predominantly Mexican fan base or a bachata vocalist whose core audience is largely Dominican). Seras won't go down in history as the most cutting-edge release of 2006, although it's a pleasant and generally decent debut from this rock en español/Latin pop twosome.