Soy Piedra

Mexico City’s Belafonte Sensacional started playing an urban folk take on twee pop before infusing their style with punk and blues rock; for their second full-length, the band threw out the formula to face the unknown. Tracks like “Segundo Acto de Destreza Juvenil”, “Las Distancias,” and “K En El Abismo” took their cues from the immediate past yet found new emotional depths, while “Epic Arris” and “Sácate a la Carretera” were effect-driven psych excursions that complemented guitar-oriented tracks like “Resist All” and “Oh Shit! Oh fuck!” which made for great slam-dancing fodder. Aided by Israel Ramirez’s evocative songwriting, Soy Piedra is a contemporary masterpiece.