María Daniela y Sonido Lasser - Baila Duro

Baila Duro, Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser
Independiente, Mexico
Rating: 69
by Carlos Reyes

The last time we catch a Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser gig they were taken off the stage by the local police for making too much noise and disturbing the peace of Phoenix’s lame Downtown. Well, those authorities were the illustration of the divisive response you can expect to get when making a Google search on the Maria Daniela and Emilio Acevedo duplet. Once an indie sensation, now a successful mainstream act with enough entourage to get over a half million hits on YouTube for just about any clip they put up.

There are no grey areas in their music and there are no middling fans either; if you’ve loved them since “Miedo” was around, you’ll be on their side along with #1 MDYSL fans CSS and Javiera Mena, if you just can’t stand those hypnotic vocals, it’s very unlikely you’ll change your mind with their latest release. Leading single “Si tu quieres bailar, te ninas a matar” is a knock-out riot on the dance floor, and ulimately, the excuse to releasing the middling Baila Duro EP, their first release since Nuevos Ricos’ startling departure. The sketchy flamboyant dose comes in a smaller package this time, with six songs that are almost undistinguishable from one another, yet all over the place quality-wise.

The magic of Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser starts with the effervescent titles of their songs; they upfront what’s coming due to the duo’s monotonous (yet effective) execution. As usual, the interesting, often humorous titles are in fact, the interesting pieces. “Garras de Tigre” has a superstar eminence to die for, “mi gatito quiere más, quiero bailar, le encanta como suena mi voz, miau, miau,” if you can feel the unconditional love of the kitty to his diva consider this song a triumph. Of course, this is Maria Daniela, she doesn’t settle for pet talk, she makes it dramatic visualizing the idea of an ambitious roaring cat that ‘literally’ scratches records and writes his own manifesto.

The title song is a tour-de-force with the composition of the catchiest Reggaeton songs ever made. The sequences in “Baila Duro” aren’t just sequences of synth-pop, they’re galloping strips on how to kill on the dancefloor. The other truly great song in the album “Yo Tenia Un Novio” is the perfect blend of the Jessy Bulbo’s punk and Angelica Maria’s chanteuse era. Baila Duro EP doesn’t disappoint but it is too obvious, they didn’t break it down to the selective pieces, in fact, half of the songs are just charismatic fillers.