Bloque: Bloque

Just as it's good to hear Anglo acts spicing up their music with elements from around the world, it's nice to hear the bands being imitated returning the favor. Bloque (formerly Bloque de Busqueda, which has more political implications) is from Colombia, but the music is so cosmopolitan that the group may as well be based in L.A. Like Ozomatli, which gleefully hops from hip hop to rock to salsa to funk, often in the course of one song, Bloque injects some decidedly non-traditional elements into what is nonetheless fairly traditional music. "It's A Small World" could easily be read as just a self-important statement about Walt Disney's cultural imperialism, but Bloque shows that the door swings both ways: To a Colombian, rock 'n' roll is the world music, the non-indigenous interloper. But the group sees rock as less a threat than a challenge, using the genre to its advantage throughout its self-titled U.S. debut. Along with dance-friendly percussion propulsion come references to Led Zeppelin, The Police, Frank Zappa, and other not very Colombian rock acts, while vocalist Ivan Benavides seems to understand the force of rap even if his singing doesn't exactly flow. The rest of the band deftly moves from more traditional passages to such songs as "Lo Que Sucede," which features powerhouse drums, power chords, and funky bass courtesy of the inimitable Luis Angel Pastor. What makes Bloque special isn't just its stabs at la musica norteamericana, but also such quieter interludes as the untitled bit that precedes "Descarga." Bloque may not be far beyond novelty, but the group is certainly pointing in the right direction: the future.