Photo by: BSO.com

Ozomatli is a band that fearlessly experiments with music genres, and its latest album, Fire Away, released last week, is no exception.

Variety is the hallmark of this record, which can quite easily be compared to the recent weather. Don’t like a track? Wait a couple minutes.

Fire Away opens with a rhythmic Latin beat, frolics with contemporary rock, spends some one-on-one time with funk and reacquaints itself with alternative. This is easily the most interesting aspect of the music. Each song is present in full form and never seems to be an experimentation within that genre. This doesn’t mean that every song is above hit and miss. The ambiance established by one track can be obliterated by its successor. Unfortunately the overall experience can be marred if the listener feels the transition is rocky in between songs.

Although there are 11 tracks, the album  seems to come up short. It came as a bit of an unpleasant surprise to find that one can walk to and from class and listen to most of the tracks. This very well could have been a countermeasure to prevent songs from dragging on, but it comes at a cost.

These arguments aside, Ozomatli’s most recent album is so-so. Fire Away by all means has some significant hits, but are petitioned directly by some noticeable misses. The songs aren’t bad on their own at all. It just so happens that in certain cases they fail to compliment to overall aesthetic of the album. Proceed with caution.