Puya "Mere Niño"

Puya Fundamental advance promo CD (MCA Records, 1998)

I first heard Puya on the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack. I'd purchased it 'cause Queens of the Stone Age had an exclusive track on it, "Infinity." The QotSA track rocked, naturally, but most of the rest of it was rather forgettable poo-poo. OK, sure, the Monster Magnet track was decent, but it was also on (the US version of) their most recent album, God Says No, which happens to be my least favorite of their releases. And, now that I think about it, "Immortally Insane" is probably the best Pantera song I've heard; then again, I don't particularly like them. Then, there was Puya. Their track, "Tirale," was what could be called nü-metal, but it featured Latin percussion, some very tasty lead guitar (generally a no-no in the nü-metal crapiverse), and horn charts. They sounded like no one else on the soundtrack, and like no one else I'd ever heard. When I came across their second album, Fundamental, a bit later, I snapped it up, and it proved to me that "Tirale" was not a fluke. I eventually found out there was a pre-release version with some differences, so off to eBay I went, and tracked down a copy. As it turned out, for whatever reason, someone decided to resequence the album and pull two songs. Today's song, therefore, is one of those unfairly deleted songs ("Ventana" was the other victim). Neither song appeared on their next album, Union, and neither appears on their excellent reunion EP from a few months ago, Areyto, which you can order on CD direct from the band. NOTA BENE: Their first album, Puya, was released on the tiny, poorly named Noiz Boiz Records. It's pretty kickin', too. There's also a promo EP, Live in Puerto Rico. It's good, but please don't spend $195 on a copy (the current low price on Amazon for a used copy).