Like the Queen's Royal Guard, the Empire State Building or even a decent light post, New Mexican Erection is standing conspicuously tall.
The powerhouse heavy-metal band, made up of guitarist Miguel "Keeb" Romero, vocalist Travis Manning, Bevo on bass and Ray Ryneer on drums, is proof positive that Albuquerque has no claim to the title of New Mexico's music capital.
While the Las Cruces metal band is only one of the 28 bands on Nasty Cactus Compilation Vol. 1, the band actually started Nasty Cactus Music in 1999 as a way to gain exposure. The company later became an important promotional medium for other Las Cruces bands.
"NME has been around 10 years now and as a band we started NC to promote ourselves and then decided that we could promote for other bands as well," Manning said. "When we started Nasty Cactus Music we worked with KRUX (NMSU's college station). We'd underwrite with them to promote local shows and they'd give us spots every weekend. It's fun, and it's not a profit thing. It's more of just being able to do it. It's been working out really good."
According the Web site, www.nastycactusmusic.com, Nasty Cactus Music is the only full-service music production company in southern New Mexico and "offers many services created specifically to help local musicians market themselves throughout our community and in other markets across the country."
Although Nasty Cactus is influential in the Las Cruces music scene, Manning admits that another New Mexican metropolis may have had a little influence on Nasty Cactus.
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He said Nasty Cactus was patterned after the Albuquerque music scene.
"Coming up for Fall Crawl and showcases, we're looking at all that and going, 'Wow this is amazing.' You have some unbelievable bands and some good record companies up there. We're trying to copy you guys," he said.
While the 28-song compilation produced by Nasty Cactus Music features some of the best music Las Cruces has to offer, NME stands out from the rest as one of the finest metal bands to emerge from the scorched desert of the Land of Enchantment.
The best way to describe NME's sound is explosive. Like a match to gasoline, Innuendo, the band's second CD, ignites with some of the best and most progressive heavy metal around. With a fusion of funk and thrash, New Mexican Erection has created a sound that is not only powerful and fast, but also infectious.
Anyone curious about the music of Las Cruces should check out the Nasty Cactus Compilation, but for anyone who wants a straight up ass-kicking CD, run out and grab New Mexican Erection's Innuendo.
