Cracher le Feu

This ‘fire-spitting’ album from Montréal is the work of producer Oonga, who has hooked up with his Belizean equivalent, Ivan Duran (of Calypso Rose and The Garifuna Collective fame), and the usual host of expat international guests – including, I should add, Mighty Sampson – for an album of ebullient dance music. The ten high-energy tracks all fit the label’s self-styled ‘tropical punk’ USP: ska, samba and lots of deep funk underpin songs sung and rapped in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. It’s loud, good-time music likely to fire a few parties in its wake, with plenty of horny horns and invigorating vocals. The only trouble is a lack of variation: the relentless thumping beats build to a final track appropriately entitled ‘Exterminacion (feat Eskeleto)’, by which time it could all be a bit wearisome for anyone not prepared to get up and get into it.