Bonde do Role

College radio stations everywhere better thank their lucky stars the FCC doesn't understand Portuguese. Bonde do Role has caught on recently in indie circles thanks to the band's associations with Baltimore crate-digger/Tarantino-level divisive hipster Diplo, who has had a long-running infatuation with baile funk, Brazil's ultra-turgid answer to Miami bass and Detroit ghettotech. But even if the language barrier prevents the raunchiest moments of With Lasers from clearly registering with American listeners, the irreverence is universally understandable — right down to the album's cover, where the lasers in question are coming from the eyes of Rio's famous 125-foot Christ the Redeemer statue.

Much of Bonde do Role's appeal, limited as it is (good thing the songs usually don't go longer than two minutes), centers on the group being as ridiculous and obvious as possible in its choices for pop music appropriation. This leads to tracks like "Bondallica," a snotty take on '80s metal that rides on a buttrock grunt-riff and MC Marina Ribatski's mockery of "metal rules, punk sucks" pontifications. "James Bonde" is essentially a string of gay jokes at 007's expense, with a guitar riff split between Monty Norman's iconic Bond theme and Art of Noise's version of "Peter Gunn." And "Solta O Frango" — which, unless Babelfish fails me, means "release the chicken" (nudge wink) — makes like the dirtiest Homestar Runner song conceivable.