New York Boogaloo

Boogaloo is the infectious Latin-soul dance craze of the late 60s and early 70s that brought the world ‘I Like it Like That’, ‘Batman's Boogaloo’ and other daft classics of the genre. Spanglish Fly, a ten-piece band from New York City, are championing its revival. Not content with mere reproduction, the band's debut album channels the spirit of the music and transmutes it into something more contemporary and eclectic. The crowd-pleasing ‘Bump (And Let it Slide)’ even adds a morsel of John Coltrane's ‘A Love Supreme’ into the mix. If in general it works a treat, this track sums up both the album's strengths and weaknesses. While the rhythm and brass sections are right on the money, the vocals of Erica Ramos can sound unusually like caricature. On ‘Love Graffiti Me’ she sounds incongruously and jarringly like Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne.

Nevertheless, most of the right ingredients have been assembled. This is good-time Latin street-party music that bodes well for the band's future. Trumpeter and bandleader, Jonathan Goldman, describes boogaloo as a wide-open door that says ‘Come on in here and dance with us. Have fun.’ By that criterion, New York Boogaloo is a swinging success.