Mr. Mirainga, a fun and rowdy foursome from Arizona by way of Orange County, got their foot in the door a few months ago with "Burnin' Rubber," a testosterone-laced ode to fast cars and loud guitars from the soundtrack to Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls that's also featured here on their debut LP. The tune gets its novelty appeal from a vaguely Samba-style beat -- what the band have termed "mamba-punk/samba-core." That may explain the name (as in "merengue") -- not that infusing punk with the kind of Tex-Mex spice that Mr. Mirainga favor has anything to do a with a ballroom dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. But anyone who cares about such details is bound to be put off by Mr. Mirainga, which opens with a stoopid revved-up ditty about loving a bag lady and rapidly degenerates into a moronic routine of driving songs ("57 South"), drinking tunes ("Loaded"), and Jane's Addiction ripoffs ("Jalopeno Eyes" -- pronounced "jah-LAH-puh-no") that are as satisfying as Taco Bell.

-- Matt Ashare