Byron Gonzalez on March 22nd, 2021

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Migrant Motel is one of those bands that only knows how to make head-banging, mosh-pit-starting, explosive, power-rock jams. Influenced by bands such as Twenty One Pilots and Royal Blood, they recently have thrown Spanish lyrics into the mix.

As their name suggests, this duo consists of migrants that have called various cities their home at different times in their lives. Guitarist, bassist and vocalist David Stewart Jr. is Peruvian-born and Los Angeles-based; drummer David Chava is Mexican-born and raised, currently based out of Mexico City. Producer and “unofficial third band member,” Peder Etholm Idsøe is Norwegian. The project was created by Stewart and Chava when they were college students attending Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Last week, they released a double single for their first official bilingual song, “Muñequita Rota” — broken little doll — the Spanish version of which features Mexican electronic-rock outfit Sierra León. The song offers rock ’n’ roll enthusiasts everything they love about the genre: hard thumping, groovy bass licks, combustible guitar and drum synergy that invites aficionados to the traditional headbanging ritual, all of which is led by some powerful vocals that range from calm, collected and cool to a rebellious yell.

This new jam is the follow-up to last year’s “Donkey Kong,” “I Don’t Wanna Know” and their Shock Sessions remake of “I Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Colombia’s Soy Emilia, who supplied the band’s first-ever bilingual lyrics. The string of recent singles follows their 2017 debut album, “Volume One.”

“The song came from a super fun riff that I’d always play; I love when odd time signatures feel really good and groovy.” Stewart says, “When Chava and I sat with it, it felt very Jack White, kinda garage, and we ended up writing about the strange lust people feel about dating someone with a lot of issues so they can fix them, almost enamored by the ‘cracks in the porcelain.’ We had been touring in Mexico when we came up with the ‘Mi Muñequita Rota’ (broken little doll) line, loved the idea of making it bilingual, and brought it to Peder to make it shine in that alt radio rock way.”

Migrant Motel is currently working on two EPs, set to be released later this year.

Director Emir Cerman did the visuals for both songs.

||| Watch: The videos for “Muñequita Rota”