La Ona Pesada

La Onda Pesada (1971) by Ernan Roch showcases the most experimental side of Mexican rock of the era, blending blues and psychedelia, with Hendrix-style guitars driven by powerful fuzz riffs, alongside more folk oriented passages and deeply poetic lyrics. This album has become one of the most coveted titles among collectors due to its outstanding musical quality and the fact that it suffered the consequences of the persecution of Mexican rock, which prevented it from being properly circulated at the time of its original release and resulted in very limited sales, condemning it to years of obscurity.

Monterrey musician Hernando Rocha managed to record his debut LP in 1970 after spending time living in the United States, where he absorbed the latest waves of psychedelic rock. Reinventing himself as Ernan Roch, the album La Onda Pesada was finally released a year later, credited to Ernan Roch with Las Voces Frescas. Three elements really stood out on the record: Ernan’s strong, expressive vocals; the guitars, ranging from powerful fuzz driven riffs to calm, reflective passages close to the folk sound of Simon & Garfunkel; and the high poetic level of the lyrics.

The album included songs written during his year in the U.S.: ‘Sittin on a Side of the Ocean,’ ‘Give Me a Piece (She Doesn’t Care),’ and ‘The Train,’ which opened Side A. That track also appeared on the B-side of a 7” single, where ‘She Doesn’t Care’ was retitled ‘Give Me a Piece’ and pressed as the A-side. The songs reflect the existential angst of a 16-year-old—Ernan’s age when he wrote them. For instance, ‘The Train,’ with its powerful guitar intro, might suggest the anticipation of love, but it’s actually not about romance at all: it deals with suicide and a dialogue with death, portrayed as a woman dressed in black waiting at the end of the station. The life-and death theme continues in ‘Sittin on a Side of the Ocean,’ which speaks of a loveless world filled with hate, erupting into a striking riff by guitarist Miguel Cárdenas. These tracks were joined on Side A by ‘I Found All,’ ‘I Can’t,’ and ‘Round Round.’ Side B featured ‘Gonna Make I,’ ‘A Life of Love,’ ‘Cause of Love,’ ‘All Right / It’s Gonna Take Me Time,’ and ‘Give Me a Peace,’ for a total of ten songs.

The quality of the material is even more impressive when you realize Rocha was only 17 years old when he recorded it. When the album came out, with its bluesy, psychedelic sound and Hendrix-inspired guitar work, it seemed destined for commercial success—but several factors stood in the way. One was the growing censorship of Mexican rock after Avándaro; another was the new government’s view of rock as “cultural imperialism.” The record went largely unnoticed throughout the ’70s and ’80s, but with the rise of online marketplaces in the early 2000s, it was rediscovered by international collectors, who hailed it as a hidden gem and praised its production. It eventually became one of the most sought-after Mexican records of all time