Ozomatli is an 8-piece group from a Mexican village, Los Ángeles, too small to figure in the maps of Mexico I have consulted. These guys are very far from your average Mexican band; with Ozomatli, we are very clearly in presence of a very important development, one which takes us beyond the stereotypes of Mexican music.

Ozomatli is very clearly a progressive Mexican band. This is in evidence from the first thing one notices from the photo of the band in the back of the CD: they are joining the mainstream of the civilized world and abandoning clunky, ethnic acoustic instruments with strings fashioned out of disgusting substances obtained by torturing animals, and adopting the drum kit, bass and electric guitar format sweeping the music world, after long being a mainstay of American performers such as Rod Stewart.

Granted, Ozomatli still hasn't had the opportunity to completely shed all of its ethnic instrumentation. This is understandable for a band with origins as humble as theirs; while three of the eight members can obviously play American instruments competently, the rest stick to funny drums used to communicate with heathen African gods, cowbells, or brass instruments (which are obviously can't be made electric; brass is a metal, it'd electrocute the performers!). But those five guys have to do something to eat, after all; better have them earn a semi-decent living playing such trinkets and baubles than have them sneak drugs across the militarized US-Mexico border.

The album, as it happens, has a "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" label on it. Most of the songs have titles in Spanish, so it doesn't really matter, since the songs are most likely in Spanish and neither you nor your kids will be able to understand what they say.

Needless to say, I am really looking forward to listening to this groundbreaking album from this electrified rural Mexican band, and sincerely hope this small step towards civilization eventually be followed by big strides.

Rating: 3 out of 5 tacos (Has electric instruments, but the guys sing in Spanish).