From Mexico, masters of disguise and party-rocking fun.

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[6.78]

Iain Mew: That they call themselves “soft porn rockers” may be a decent indication of how seriously they wish to be taken, and the whinnying brass interjections are pretty funny. Under that cover though, they are funky and expand on that funk in creative ways. The extended coda in particular sees their mambo take on an epic edge.
[8]

Alfred Soto: The brass section compensates for an enervated lead vocal and a rather staid rhythm.
[6]

Anthony Easton: I like how grinding this is, how it strips emotion while adding layers, and how it is less gleaming and more tarnished than other mambos I have heard (I have not heard a lot of mambos though).
[7]

Patrick St. Michel: Despite the masks and some of their other videos I watched, what impresses me most about “Mambo En Trompeta Para Ti” is that it seemingly doesn’t pull any tricks. This seems to be a laid-back, trumpet-heavy song about wanting to do the mambo — or, if you want it to be, about sex — but in the most lazy-morning way imaginable. It is straightforward but just comes off as so lovely that I can not bring myself to care how easygoing this gets; I just want to listen to this over and over again.
[8]

Josh Langhoff: This may be totally reductive to the complex subtleties of their shtick, but are these guys like the Mexican Tubes? Secret identities, “funny” stage names, exhausting mythology, specialism in all styles, and chops that are in on the joke. Also like the Tubes, they seem unafraid to run a fine idea — in this case the Meta Mambo — about a minute past its maximum freshness.
[5]

Brad Shoup: So… Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band with Donald Fagen sitting in? There’s a kind of transcendence through coolness going on, with all those jazz fusion chords dropping the altitude set by the feral brass squeals. It’s the promise of the lounge revival: embrace overturned standards of hipness and never die.
[9]

Rebecca A. Gowns: A band that’s shooting for the theatrics of ICP, with the wild fratboy energy of Dane Cook… and they fall short of the mark! The music’s not half as rambunctious as they want it to be, and they’re nowhere near as rebellious as they imagine they are. Like, read this interview to get more of an idea of how truly half-assed they are. This song in particular is cheesy, but they don’t even go for full cheese! Very disappointing. 
[3]

Mallory O’Donnell: I understand there are some politics involved, but this rocks the party as snake-charmingly as a vintage Prado cut. Special attention has been paid to miking drums and percussion instruments (the güiro in particular), which keeps the polyrhythms moving your body rather than cluttering your ears, letting you focus on the glancing horn lines and throwaway-sexy vocal.
[7]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: On Band of Bitches’ Pre-End of the World Soundtrack LP, “Mambo En Trompeta Para Ti” follows the new-wave leaning “No Money, No Fame” with sardonic-sounding vocals from co-conspirator Abby Boyd. It slinks around, emphatically and coolly making its point. By comparison, “Mambo” explodes: a gathering of ghostly, corrupted tips on a surging brass section, pounded drums and sweetened space-is-the-place keys. If this is to fit into the band’s apocalyptic imagery, then “Mambo” is the point that the party reaches its apex, the moment safety turns into nightmare and back again. Incorporating optimistic mambo blasts and the allure of Seventies rock into five minutes with a cut-and-dried vocal performance, irony raises its head then disappears, the band enmeshed in the drive of the music. A last-minute tip into sullenly romantic chanting is the cherry on the cake, as much a moment of oblivion as one of triumph. The horns accompany you down the basin. There is no coming back now.
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