LUCKY MEXICO GETS MORE KINKY THAN AMERICA, FOR NOW.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

MONTERREY, MEXICO-based electro pop quintet Kinky was the band to watch at last month's South by Southwest music conference.

The group's infectious techno meets electronica meets rock meets Latin influences had everybody in the crowd dancing as the members juggled duties on a number of instruments, recalling for Hanna Bolte of BMI what you might expect to see at an Earth, Wind and Fire concert.

``It was like this huge party, and people were so into it,'' says Bolte, whose regular treks to Mexico have exposed her to a number of innovative bands over the years - though few if any ever reach an American audience.

``Even bands like Cafe Tacuba and Molotov and El Gran Silencio, as big as they are, they're still not huge; they're not matchbox twenty. But this is the one band that I saw and went 'Wow, they've actually got a really good shot.' I think they could be the one to break over.''

The buzz surrounding Kinky, which performs Thursday at Vynyl, has yet to dwindle. Santa Monica-based public radio station KCRW-FM (89.9) features the band's music regularly. And in a review of the band's self-titled debut, Rolling Stone raved, ``Call it space music for the Spanglish age.''

Kinky was formed in late 1999 and quickly became part of the underground music scene that lured young hipsters to small clubs throughout Monterrey.

``We were always a live band, not a studio project,'' says Ulises Lozano, Kinky's 31-year-old keyboardist-programmer. In fact, the band's demo was recorded during a show.

A copy of that recording fell into the hands of the British producer Chris Allison, whose credits include work with the Beta Band and Coldplay. He got in touch with the band and later followed it to New York's Latin Alternative Music Conference, where Kinky took top honors in the battle of the bands competition.

Kinky began entertaining deals from a variety of record companies. But it signed with Allison's Sonic 360, a London-based label distributed by Nettwerk America that released the band's critically acclaimed debut.

``When you listen to the CD, you might think it's just another electronica band,'' says Delia Orjuela, director of Latin Music for BMI. ``But when you see them on stage, you want to dance.''

Or as Lozano puts it, ``sweat.''

``For us, it's all about people having a good time,'' he says.

KINKY

Where: 1650 (formerly Club Vynyl), 1650 N. Schraeder Blvd., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday.

Tickets: $10. Call [phone] or www.ticketmaster.com

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Due to increasing word of mouth, the members of Kinky may see their critically acclaimed music cross over to large American audiences. The band plays the 1650 club Thursday.