The concertgoing couple in zarapes, ten-gallon hats and cowboy boots clearly didn't get the memo; Mariachi El Bronx tread sensitively in their borrowing of Mexican culture. "We don't wear sombreros, which are part of the charro suit, because we're white, and it's disrespectful," explained guitarist Joby Ford before Monday's tour-closing gig at London's Islington Academy, the group's biggest UK show in their Latin-flavored guise. "We would get killed if we f----- around and didn't have respect. People would seriously come and kill us."

Happily, our amiable Euro-vaqueros faced no such danger on a night heavy on good humour and sing-a-longs, despite the gritty traditions of the rebel music invoked onstage. Mariachi El Bronx -- the acoustic, tequila-infused alter-egos of Los Angeles punk bruisers the Bronx -- may be surprised by their UK popularity ("Last night in Oxford I was talking to a mom who was into mariachi music and a daughter who likes punk bands," recalled Ford pre-gig. "That's the Bronx, bringing families together!"), but it was easy to see why their euphoric live show has transcended cultural boundaries.