On Hot Pastrana (CS-1025), his third album for Cotique records, Joey Pastrana continues the seamless integration of boogaloo/Latin soul and traditional Afro-Cuban styles that he started on Let's Ball (CS-1006) and continued on Joey (CS-1012), where he made his case for being the real “King Of Latin Soul.”

For Hot Pastrana, Joey goes even deeper into the soul bag, especially on songs like “Sincerely,” which begins as a full on doo-wop ballad, then switches into Latin after two and a half minutes. The album’s other Latin soul ballad, “Problems,” is a rehash of “That’s How Rumors Start” from his previous album. The two songs share a similar structure, tempo, and length, but “Problems” lacks the energy and punch of “That’s How Rumors Start.”

Luckily, there are songs on Hot Pastrana that do a much better job of exploring new sounds, such as the two wild and hard-driving boogaloo cuts, “Afro Azul” and “My Victrola.”  Another one of the album’s standout tracks, “Malambo,” hints at the Calypso-Bomba sound that is featured prominently on Pastrana’s fifth (and arguably best) album for Cotique records, Joey En Carnavale (CS-1048).

Jonathan Reynaldo Bailey of Latin Vinyl Junkie