Toluca

A record from the Toluca valley

In April 2001, Lizza Lonch was announced as travelling from Toluca to play songs from its first album, Polen, at Radio Chopo in Mexico City. The announcement introduced the independent rock group to readers beyond its home city while the record was still new.

The opening track, “Sueños para navegar”, travels in another sense. Its narrator imagines sailing through darkness, taking flight and entering another mind. The ship and the wings belong to a dream, not a literal journey from Toluca. The song appeared on Polen in 2000, alongside tracks including “Mantarraya” and “Revólver”.

The group followed Polen with Kriptonita. A later account of the Toluca valley’s independent scene remembers local radio alongside appearances at venues in Mexico City. For a first encounter with the group, “Sueños para navegar” returns to the beginning of that first record.