Café Tacuba

The best tribute albums require no familiarity with the artist being honored, the group playing the tune or even the language in which the lyrics are being performed. Such details might enhance the listening experience, but if a band discovers a song’s strengths and promotes them with passion, the composition’s quality will speak for itself. Los Tres ranked among the top Chilean acts, with nine eclectic albums in its consistently excellent discography. Café Tacuba, a Mexican quartet whose impressive catalog covers nearly every genre, covers four Los Tres gems on this EP, incorporating sizzling programmed percussion and singer Gallo Gasss’ fetching falsetto into the magmatic mix. The groups’ styles, melting pots heated to a boil, drain here into one bubbling cauldron of acoustic guitars, doo-wop breakdowns, compounded bass lines and hyperexpressive vocals en español.