If It's Too Loud...

Artist : Las Calakas Album : Hechizo Quick Thoughts : Having gotten a little more into international music lately, Las Calakas comes out of nowhere to be a really fun listen. They've got plenty of punk influences, to be sure, but there's an element of this being sort of a party record throughout. While songs like "Top Down" won me over in particular, there's really nothing on here that isn't just a good time. I really loved this record, you probably will, too. Songs of Note : "Top Down," "La Culebra," "Cumbia Maciza 2," "Calentura" Artist : Savak Album : Human Error / Human Delight Quick Thoughts : Savak is a new act for me, but one that came as a real pleasant surprise. They're definitely leaning alt-indie, but my goodness do a lot of these songs hit just right. There is a lot to love here overall, and Savak is an act I'm looking forward to getting back to. Songs of Note : "No Blues No Jazz,"...

Cumbia fusion band Las Calakas were voted best party band by the Phoenix New Times in 2020. Normally we'd tend to avoid a band a paper voted best party band, but most bands aren't Las Calakas. Their new single, "Morena," is definitely a Latinx song, but this is hardly world music. This is music rooted in Latinx culture that is also infused by hip hop, punk, and metal. This is a ridiculously fun song that is truly great for fans of virtually every genre of music. It combines traditional Latin American music with late twentieth century American styles seemlessly.  Drummer Rafa Calaka says of the new song: “The theme of this song is about a girl who is very dangerous. Like, you know she is dangerous but we as men don't care and we fall for her physical beauty. We know her energy is not good at all but the gorgeousness of her eyes put us in a trance. Matt (the video director) and I stayed at a coffee shop for 5 hours coming up with this story. We are super surprised b...