Kinky - 'Atlas' album review - Tiscali Music Reviews

Release date: April 12th 2004

"World music sucks. And the term is redundant anyway. We all live in the "same world" and there's no reason why music from Pakistan or Argentina should be labeled differently than music from Culver City or Williamsburg" - Filter magazine

Following the success of their debut self-titled album, 180 shows last year and a double Grammy nomination, stunning Mexican band KINKY are ready to release their second album 'Atlas' on forward thinking UK label Sonic360.

The fact is, even though half their songs are in Spanish, they have managed to cross over to the Anglo-American hipster crowd:

"...this really is a band unlike anything you've heard before." - Blender

"Sure to rule clubs and fashion runways from Milan to Monterrey" - Spin

KINKY are: Gilberto Cerezo (vocals/guitar/turntable), Ulises Lozano (keyboards), Carlos Chairez (guitar), Omar Gongara (drums and percussion), Cesar Pliego (bass).

Sonically, 'Atlas' is a clash of the organic rock sound and the digital. Frothy grooves like "Do U Like It?" sit comfortably with quirky pop songs like "Airport Feelings".

One of the highlights here is "Snapshot", a nifty all-English song based on a clever metaphor where the passage of time is merely a series of ever-changing photographs.

John McCrea of Cake (who KINKY toured with in the US) lends his vocal talents to the punchy Colombian rhythms and vintage organ effects that make up 'The Headphonist', another standout song on this album.

The five-piece started recording 'Atlas' in the midst of a jungle in Mexico followed by a stint in Los Angeles.

It's this contrast of environments %u2014 represented by the image of a fantastical grasshopper-jetliner hybrid on the album cover %u2014 and constantly being on airplanes that makes up the themes of this sophomore album.

Whilst their debut album received production input from Chris Allison (who has worked with Coldplay and The Beta Band), KINKY teamed up with Thom Russo (System of a Down and Audioslave) on 'Atlas' resulting in a more raw and rock-driven sound in comparison with the electro-pop dominated debut (though they haven%u2019t abandoned their love of machines).

"Kinky are feverishly danceable as a night in Ibiza" - Rolling Stone

"Festival organisers take note:Give these guys a call, as they will rock your event." - DJ