Kinky "Atlas"

You have heard Kinky’s “Mas” from their worthwhile self-titled 2002 debut everywhere, whether you know it or not. Car commercials, TV promos and sports highlights are a few of the places where that particularly infectious fusion of indie sensibility and Chicano rhythm reared its head. Atlas, their latest release, sounds like Kinky wants a larger share of the American marketplace, content no longer to score mid-size sedans racing across desert landscapes.

The band succeeds in surpassing their debut in many respects. The caveat here is that I do not speak Spanish. About half the songs on Atlas are in English, but even so, be assured that after you have given this record a few listens, you will recognize that in any language this band means it. “Snapshot,” which is among the English language tracks on the record (the first English-language songs the band has recorded), bids for this year’s Nissan ads. Guitars via SoCal and drums via Monterrey rush forward, seconds ahead of the listener at all times. The instrumental “Do You Like It?” is another union of cock rock style and toreador movement, the song explaining without wordstthat there really is no difference between the two.

Sure, with this being the band’s first foray into English lyrics, there is some transitional awkwardness. “Airport Feelings,” with lines like, “Your skin is my runway, I’m ready to lose,” is an example of some of the clumsy obviousness one expects Kinky to shed with time and greater exposure to exhausted English metaphors. At times, the thick accent of the vocalist does not serve the lyrics well. Lines like, “Even though I believe I’m a tree I can’t stand outside naked with the breeze,” lack the wink and the nod in the vocal that would be necessary to pull them off, and which is a bi-product of more comfort with the language. It is why the Spanish-language songs like “Salta-Lenin-El-Atlas” and “Maria Jose” sound so much better. Authenticity drapes a great hook like nothing else. “Pos Que Se Vengan” is a triumphant, staggering realization of many of the things the Beasties were going for on Hello Nasty when they weren’t rapping. Guitars echo and then become instruments of some android orchestra, drums become locomotives, a piano swings underwater and the vocal colors well outside the lines. I’m sure that Spanish would help me here, but I’m also a bit frightened by how much more I might like these guys.

There should be no barrier between Kinky and a massive American audience. They put on a great live show, their music is equal parts head and hips, they’re a good-looking enough bunch and nobody else sounds like them at this precise moment in time. Unfortunately, those same reasons I just listed for Kinky’s possible success are often reasons why bands never succeed in the American market. Until we find out for sure, take advantage of the opportunity to surprise your friends and whip Atlas out the next time folks are fixin’ to cut loose. Then you can all say you knew them before they fine-tuned their metaphors and blew the hell up.

--Andrew Ullrich