Maldita Vecindad Shows Why It’s Among Mexico’s Best

Most rock en espan~ol followers agreed that it would take Maldita Vecindad (Damned Neighborhood) a lot of work in the studio to follow up “El Circo� (The Circus), the Mexico City band’s 1991 landmark second album.

They were right. It took the group five years to complete the new album “Baile de mascaras� (Masquerade), amid much speculation about why it was such a struggle to put 12 songs together and what kind of toll that struggle took on the band.

The truth was revealed Thursday in the first of two sold-out nights at the House of Blues: Maldita is alive and well and as strong as ever.

This may have been the best L.A. performance yet by the sextet, one of the two or three best and most popular Mexican rock bands. Songs from all three of its albums were played a couple of notches above regular speed, with the new material--which when previewed in past shows seemed not quite ready for prime time--particularly impressive.

The usual mix of Mexican styles, Caribbean rhythms and rap, reggae, ska and punk has evolved into a colorful world music bag, but the music is still unquestionably and authentically Mexican.

Singer Roco (he only uses his first name) has become an expert showman and brought the crowd to a frenzy by addressing the immigration issue with a moving introduction to its first hit, “Mojado� (Wetback).

Maldita needed something big to reaffirm itself, but Thursday’s party exceeded all expectations.