Delirio rocks hard en Español.

On “Auto Destruccion,” a track from their upcoming EP, the Salinas trio Delirio has an alternative rock sound—think the heavier songs of The Smashing Pumpkins or Filter sung in Spanish—with electronica noises gurgling beneath the surface. The group is part of the “rock en Español” scene, which includes other artists that have wildly different takes on music, like the ska/punk outfit Firme and the Beatles-influenced Pastilla.

Edgar Escobedo, singer and guitarist for Delirio, believes that it is their shared culture that allows the many disparate bands to forge a strong bond with one another in the rock en Español movement. Escobedo contends that the bands are assisting one another with the hope that one will eventually breakthrough into the mainstream.

“I think everyone is trying to help everyone out,” he says. “If someone is successful, it will grab attention to the scene.”

Escobedo attributes the recent rise of the movement to two factors: the growing number of Hispanics in the United States and the increasing quality and innovativeness of the groups. For the latter, he cites the success of the always-evolving band Café Tacuba.

Like the other bands in the movement, Delirio has its own distinct story. Escobedo met his future bandmates—guitarist Albert Lopez and drummer Marco Lopez—after his family moved from Mexicali to Salinas when he was 10 years old. “They were my first friends and bullies at the same time,” he says.

After their initial meeting, years passed, and Escobedo and the Lopez brothers went their own ways. An Alisal High School guitar class brought the three back together.

Before the class, which the students took during their senior year, the Lopez brothers had been performing in conjuntos, which are traditional folkloric groups, at weddings and quinceaneras. On the other hand, Escobedo didn’t know how to play guitar at all.

Escobedo says that during his final school year he devoted himself to learning the instrument, spending hours after classes practicing guitar at the Lopez household.

By the last day of class, the trio was performing a batch of originals and some covers, such as the Eagles’ “Hotel California.”

“They were a little surprised we learned our instruments so quickly,” Escobedo says of his classmates.

Since high school, the band has been developing its own sound, a sound that reflects their love for other hard rocking alternative bands with an electronic edge, like Nine Inch Nails and Stabbing Westward.

“We like that big sound,” Escobedo says. “That big kick-your-butt rock sound.”

In addition to drawing from a well of about 25 originals, the band has been known to cover ‘80s synth rockers Depeche Mode’s “It’s No Good.”

“We do our own style to it,” Escobedo says. “It’s been a crowd favorite for a while now.”

As for the band’s originals, Escobedo describes them as “very alternative, electronic and industrial.”

Delirio performs with Dildo and Pastilla at CSUMB’s Black Box Cabaret, 3rd Street and 4th Avenue in Seaside, Saturday at 8pm. Free. 582-3597.