Like the bomb it gets its name from, Molotov is made from simple ingredients -- rock, underground rap, mainstream rap, dance music and equal parts English, Spanish and Chilango.
And it's explosive.
On its third CD release Dance and Dense Denso, the Mexico City-based quartet defies categorization, tweaking with styles and sounds as easily as some musicians tweak the levels on their amplifiers.
The band manages to vary styles without losing any of their focus or forcefulness.
With an attitude that is equal parts Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, Molotov attacks, attacks and attacks some more. Yet band members never lose their sense of humor or go so over-the-top that they become parodies of themselves like carnival barkers or humorless Doomsday preachers.
Molotov is precise in its provocation, using wit and sarcasm to deride the injustice the band members see and precise ferocity to make their point.
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The high points of this CD are many. The highest is "Frijolero," or "Beaner," an accordion-laced polka two-stepper that serves as an indictment of racism at the U.S.-Mexico border. The song, reminiscent of Sly Stone's "Don't Call me Nigger, Whitey," indulges in more racial epithets than you can shake a stick at, which gives the song its provocative edge.
Musically, the quartet covers a lot of ground in this 11-song disc. There are plenty of funk-style rhythms, but the band drops much of the straight hip hop sound that populated its first two efforts.
The group even indulges in double-time punk rock with "Queremos Pastel" and "Nostradamus Mucho," as well as heavy metal-style guitar bracketed by rap beats. The title track is reminiscent of PE's "Bring the Noise" in more ways than one.
If your musical palette is wanting for something a little challenging, you can do worse than picking up Dance and Dense Denso. Molotov shows as little regard for musical boundaries as they do the one between Mexico and the United States. And that's a very, very good thing.
