Café Tacuba

Objeto Antes Llamado Disco (Universal Music Latino)

Until No Line on the Horizon, U2 didn’t make bad albums. Café Tacuba, granted, only two decades vested, happily picks up the mantle. Seven studio discs since 1992, the Mexico City foursome sounds impossibly fresh, effortless, and more confident with each passing keeper. Imagine Radiohead pogo, Animal Collective hooks, Rockwell in tune. Recorded at home, and in Buenos Aires, Chile, and L.A., Object Formerly Known as Record engineers an electro grid grounding a sine wave of melody as voiced by Rubén Albarrán with gnomish verve. The language barrier can’t breach this wall of sonic pleasure, but their romance language only enriches balladic journey “De Este Lando Del Camina” (From This Side of the Road), which blips Interpol, crosses a Sgt. Pepper-ish bridge, and breaks orbit on a synthesizer blear that goes from ELO to Pink Floyd. Showstopper and new grande éxito (greatest hit) “Olita Del Altamar” moshes/mashes Calexico and Foster the People. Joselo’s vocals can’t compete with Albarrán’s circling “Zopílotes” (vultures), but missteps remain invisible here. Welcome to the nube (cloud). (10pm, Stubb’s; Thu., 8pm, Auditorium Shores)

***.5

This article appears in March 15 • 2013.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.