Justine Frischmann once said that Elastica should’ve been a one-album band, and to some of their most ardent fans, they really were. It’s a shame, because The Menace has some great ideas, but it does feel as far from their 1995 release as Gorillaz is from Blur.

The impact of Connection in Mexico was tremendous but somehow pegged the band (unjustly) as one-hit wonders. Most of the people that I knew that bought the album didn’t bother with the sophomore release and I gotta admit that I wasn’t so keen the first time I heard The Menace, but it’s a grower. As long as you don’t expect the punkier, wild side of their debut, you get a very “end of the millenium” album.

Trainspotting had a select release schedule in Mexico and I pretty much had to beg my parents to drive me to plaza loreto, a shopping centre deep in the south of Mexico city. I went in, they went shopping and sauntering about. The impact the movie had on me was two-fold: the story was funny and tragic, summarising Welsh’s intricate novel into a well told yarn. It was the soundtrack, though, what truly permeated my soul.

Born Slippy (Nuxx) still brings tears to my eyes. Imagine that, a dance song having emotional resonance. Should defeat the vague arguments of “real music” stalwarts. Pulp’s Mile End still makes me smile and it’s easily my all time fave song of theirs. I’ve already mentioned how much Blur’s Sing hits me straight into my heart.

So let’s talk about Elastica’s 2:1. A song without a chorus, and a slip sliding bass line. It’s ominous, with a stark ambiance that lingers like incense in a church in ruins. The call and response nature of the second verse lives rent-free in my head.

The inclusion of 2:1 in Trainspotting is as tactical as every needle drop the film sports. Sick Boy and Begbie are slowly but surely taking over Renton’s life in London. The telly has already been traded for fish and chips, and his passport is now on their sights.

Trainspotting gets a thirty year anniversary release in a couple of days and I’m too minds about re-watching it. I would love to revisit it again, but I don’t know the emotional toll the film will take this time around. First time I watched I almost broke my thumb, don’t know what to expect.

-Sam J. Valdés López