Kinky: 'Sueño de la máquina'

Kinky's fifth studio album has the band coming full circle. It was 10 years ago that they submitted a demo and won New York's Latin Alternative Music Conference's Discovery Contest, and now they join the roster of Nacional Records, the Latin alternative label headed by LAMC mastermind Tom Cookman. After albums produced by people like Chris Allison (Coldplay, Beta Band) and "fourth Beastie Boy" Money Mark, Sueño de la máquina (Dream of the machine) has Dust Brother John King at the helm. Despite that machine reference, five actual humans with actual instruments mix techno, dance, and programming, yes, with a synergistic power that delivers rock 'n' roll magic with each track. Percussionist Omar Góngora is still the backbone: he's a stand-up drummer (literally) who simultaneously plays timbales and congas with such power and precision that the others can easily float around his fireworks to deliver a direct, danceable, pop-friendly mix that never repeats itself and never bores. Spanish rapper Mala Rodríguez, in a rare moment of submission, follows their trip on "Negro día" (Black Day), one of many highlights. If this doesn't give you loco legs, you don't have any.

★★★★ (out of 5 stars)