Los Invasores de Nuevo León had their first hit in 1982 with “Mi Casa Nueva,” a song that established them as both peerless purveyors of norteño music and poets of longing, loneliness, and disappointed love. The group was formed in 1978 in Monterrey, Mexico, by vocalist Lalo Mora; a local radio station ran a contest to name the band, and the winner received a serenade. The group initially played private parties, but that changed with the release of “Mi Casa Nueva”; 1982’s Laurita Garza became their first gold record. The titular corrido told the mournful story of a spurned schoolteacher who eventually kills both her former lover and herself—and, like many of Los Invasores’ songs, it lingered on the charts and remains a staple on regional Mexican radio. Los Invasores have stayed close to norteño’s traditional sound, mixing corridos and ballads but expanding into a full band with bass and drums; the change dissipates some of the music’s aural melancholy, but the lyrical intensity remains. Over time, they have hosted a rotating cast of artists—for example, lead vocalist Mora left in 1993 but returned in 2013 to helm the now beloved “A Ver Quien Gana”—but the group’s star has shone brighter with each passing year.