On their third full album, Belafonte Sensacional find new ways to reinvent themselves. No two tracks sound the same. No song resembles what formerly came before. No, Belafonte Sensacional surfed too close to the event horizon and fused themselves -and the music they love- together as a strange, gestalt entity, that would make both Sturgeon and Le Guin happy. Burroughs was not invited, the wife-shooting prick.

It would be easy for Belafonte Sensacional to stick to their tried and true molotov cocktail of rock urbano/antifolk and do a thousand re-hashes of ‘lo hice por el punk’ or ‘convocatoria para el destroy’. Sure, there’s ‘Todavía DF’, a folkier ditty that relishes on a chaotic ending, ‘Jovita Verano’, a breezy introspection into the void, and there’s ‘Roca Roy’, with its Magic Numbers ambiance and sauntering pace. These tracks offer a spot of normality.

Closest to a haven in the maelstrom of genres is the delectable ‘Suaves son los días’, a duet with Julieta Venegas that could very well be a lost single from early 70s La Romántica FM. Fun, joyous, still with a hint of sadness creeping below the golden veneer. Sidenote: bueninvento is a fantastic album. Listen to it, dear readers.

Don’t ponder for too long what Belafonte Sensacional want to express with their sporadic releases. Enjoy the ride instead. Soy Piedra , their 2019 release, answered the question: what if we let them to their own devices inside a studio? Ambient, krautrock, punk, trash. All thermomixed perfectly into one trippy stew. You went for it, spoon in hand, and then asked for seconds.

Llamas llamas llamas continues to prove what Belafonte Sensacional belt out; as unhinged as they wanna be. There’s the joyous ‘Manuel te amo un putero’, a tweet-like love letter with all the mambo trimmings you’d dance to at a wedding. ‘OMI’, a beautiful collage that just borders into musique concrete territory. ‘Chris Farley’ is a never-ending fadeout with a gorgeous atmosphere provided by the always trusty Mabe Fratti. It’s a ponderous closer that is both joyful and a downbeat ending, but that’s life. A time comes when life is a repetition “last time I saw them they were healthy!” platitudes and eulogies.

Listening to ‘Negro Soledad’ reminded me of my teen years. I used to pass months in Tampico Madero, walking aimlessly fairly late at night. The high humidity and infernal heat on those long gone summer days meant that life started a little later. I relished those times, as I was free to do what I want, when I wanted. A thousand kilometers I walked, drenched in sweat, with no music but salsa, bachata, and mambo music blasted from loud parties over yonder, the sounds naturally reverberated and washing over me with the cool breeze. Those were the days, my friends.

Llamas llamas llamas is a cathartic mixtape left inside an old Citation in the unforgiving Tampico sun. The tape barely plays, its warped beyond repair, but you love it so much you still listen to it. The hodgepodge genre mixing unravels slowly, leaving a message. In a sea of online bickering, urban decay, and gentrification (both in real life and on our online personas), Belafonte Sensacional offers half an hour of pure, unadulterated madness. Long may they continue.

—Sam J. Valdés López.