"Top of the world" - "The US/Mexican frontier is a hotspot of hope and anguish, drugs and guns, rednecks and refugees. Orkesta Mendoza, formed by Calexico percussionist and keyboard player Sergio Mendoza, accents the celebratory and the vital. Upbeat cumbia, swoony ranchera and, above all on this third release, banging boogaloo are given a polished, rock-friendly treatment that's the ultimate in likeable Latin crossover ... Like Calexico, Orkesta Mendoza love sweet chord sequences and lush vocals, balanced by a Latino tinge of melancholy and well-placed minor notes ... Made famous by the likes of Joe Cuba, boogaloo is a US-born fusion of mambo and son with R&B and soul. During its craze-like heyday, it was about edgy fun and frantic dancing. Curandero takes that essence and updates it to offer a healing musical hybrid for our times".
