Malportado Kids 
Total Cultura 
Dead Labour 
Street: 06.02 
Malportado Kids = (Fea / Piñata Protest) x (Le Tigre√Bikini Kill)
 
I’m sure that living in the white-majority state of Rhode Island lends to much frustration for Chican@s there, and Total Cultura delivers it in spades—but with a dance-y, norteño-esque electronic compulsion. Frontwoman Victoria Ruiz channels riotgrrrl with a “pocha” lens in opener “Soy La Pocha,” in which she asserts her chicanidad atop a four-on-the-floor beat riddled with a devil-may-care, digital cumbia instrumentation. Ruiz shouts unapologetically with a screech similar to Kathleen Hanna’s early work, which works well with the hype that she and Joey La Neve DeFrancesco’s lo-fi production impart to each track. Standouts are “Bruja Cosmica” with its strident beeps and “Chingona” with its rhythmic bass. At times, the melodies and digital-instrument timbres make Total Cultura feel a bit circus-like, but it aurally complicates the album with culturally intersected vibes in an interesting manner. More than anything, Total Cultura is a fun, subversive dance-punk album that comes from a Chican@-centric core. –Alexander Ortega