This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
When I say Mexican dance music, I know what you probably hear: Mariachi bands, toreador horns and flamenco guitars. Which is fair enough. But hardly accurate — at least when it comes to kaleidoscopic sounds of Kinky.
These freewheeling Monterrey mavericks playfully dart back and forth across musical borders on their multi-culti sophomore album Atlas. Picking up where they left off on their self-titled 2002 debut, they merrily mix and match American pop, dance floor grooves, Santana percussion, Beatles melodies, Tex-Mex accordions, slacker raps, James Brown samples, spaced-out synths, psychedelic swirls, David Byrne quirkiness and just about anything else that strikes their fancy, smooshing it all together into a bumptious, celebratory brand of sui generis Latino rock. When it comes to Mexican dance music, Kinky are definitely what you want to hear.
