Two musical projects come together to create this split EP: the punk rock band The Contracepters and rapper Carmen “Fria” Castillo, who are both members of local Ska-punk band L@s Skagaler@s. These musicians have used their RGV roots, left wing sentiments, and musical aggression to create the songs that have built them a strong following that supported their recent Skank For Choice event that raised $2000 for various abortion and women’s charities, despite the band being inactive for two years. The first 3 songs are by The Contracepters and the latter half by Carmen Fria.

The opener, “Get Out,” sets the tone for the album with its oi! punk speed, group shouts, and working-class appeal. The band calls out anti-abortion proponents to get out of the faces and out of the way of women heading into a clinic. “Creepy male anti’s who harass. . . CPC’s who masquerade in scrubs. . . The one who claims that the pill kills: Get out!” The alternating vocals and breakdown in the finale of this 2-minute speed run is one of the best moments on the album, abruptly ending with a “¡Vete!”

The next track is about the story of Rosie Jimenez and how anti-abortion policies disproportionately affect the poor, this time dropping the rage of the previous song for a more tender approach. The Contraceptor’s half ends with a song about the high rates of abuse and pregnancy of Texas minors. The pace, dynamics, and emotional male/female duet go well overall, until a block of statistics is awkwardly shoehorned in.

The second half is Carmen Fria’s confrontational rap narratives and opens with “1, 2, 3 – Fuck CPC’s.” The instrumental sounds like a 90’s version of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”, while the lyrics walk us through the shady process a woman faces when visiting a crisis pregnancy center. Although it is lyrically blunt, there is a creative moment of satirical interactions with CPC staff. “Hi, this is Jenny from your local CPC,” says someone playing a staff member over a phone conversation. “How can I help you make a choice that fits MY religious need.” The chorus also has the strongest line from the album: “Want to save a life? Stay the fuck away from me.”

               The next track, “Ni un Paso Atras”, ironically sounds like a church sing-along with its piano riff and group vocals, even though Christian institutions have historically been an obstacle to abortion rights. It serves as a warmhearted counterpart to the last song (complete with a na-na-na singing section), as well as switching to Spanish raps. The themes shift to various issues women face while seeking abortion: embarrassment, poverty, being a victim of violence, and the government refusing to listen.

               In “Agarra la Onda” they save the best for last. A fluid psychedelic cumbia beat sets the stage for Fria’s spanish hardcore hip-hop flows. The song begins by shouting out to the artists, unemployed, anarchists, and feminists of the RGV as a call to action. The raps are delivered at break-neck speeds while the lyrics embrace grassroots momentum from the everyman: “Si la gente se conforma, no hay reforma.”

               In only 17 minutes the musicians explore two distinct styles and cover a lot of political territory, while keeping it RGV-centric by name dropping the “beautiful Brownsville scene,” the four local counties, and including the story of Rosie Jimenez who died in our very own McAllen, Texas. However, the concept of the split EP /compilation is the biggest problem. The constant clear-cut lyrics and lack of any abstract thought make the experience preachy as the album progresses, which ends up only preaching to the choir. Musically, it could cover more ground to reach out to more people, instead of only old-school punk and retro raps. A compilation from only two projects restricts the spectrum of emotion, ambition, thought-provoking ideas, and even entertainment. Tales from the Border achieves everything it set out to do but could have added more boxes to check off.

               Last year’s Wild Tongue compilation had 9 projects contribute to an album that represented the span of musical genres in the RGV. Lyrical themes like pride, fear, identity, unity, sacrifice, belonging, and yes, social injustice as well. In fact, the best track on Tales from the Border (Agarra la Onda) appeared on this album first.

Punk rock does have a place in surfacing liberal social and political issues. Idles’s take on toxic masculinity and immigration last year makes great use of dynamics, noise experimentation, and lyrical wit to make their message sticky. Run The Jewels has point-blank political raps as well, but use interesting industrial hip hop beats and two vigorous rappers to explore different topics without tiring out the listener. The one-track mindedness, narrow emotional focus, and dated musical aesthetic keep the EP from being the catalyst it could be.

Listen to the album here