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Cryptical - Wow, I can't believe you linked to that first song. I just played that (from exactly the same page) a couple of days ago for a friend who plays guitar.
Cryptical Envelopment: Oh my God I love you. I had that song on a cassette tape from long, long ago and I never knew who performed it. I remember listening to it as I crossed the English Channel on a ferry bound for France and thinking it was the perfect soundtrack to a lost summer.
Full disclosure: I own a mexistrat myself (but I shimmed the trem so it's a hardtail now) -- it's got a nice neck. Black w/ white pickguard, maple. The only difference between Mexi and US is hardware and quality control. So it's harder to find a neck you like, and the frets might tickle your fingers more than they should.
Fernandez makes killer Fender copies. They tend to make the bodies out of basswood so you can get a really lightweight tele with a great neck for about 1/2 to 3/4 the price of a Fender.
But the sweetest of all is my Music Man Axis Sport. P-90s, hardtail, gunmetal. The fit and finish is out of this world, and it plays like a dream.