Riotous Brazilian MC and DJ three-piece Bonde Do Role play baile funk - a flippant, punked-up take on Miami bass developed in Rio's favelas - and yet aren't from Rio. A characteristic of baile funk is its playfulness and mash-up guerrilla-style sampling. Grunge, heavy metal, and cheese were added to the melting pot here. Their SXSW appearances were the talk of post-festival blogs, described in many instances as a "Brazilian Beastie Boys" with their explosive performances and filthy lyrics.

In roughly a year, Bonde do Rolê skyrocketed from the Brazilian underground to become veritable poster children of cheeky baile funk in Europe and the U.S. With the hotly anticipated summer release of this debut album, the trio–-emcees Marina Ribatski and Pedro Pedro D'eyrot, and DJ Rodrigo Gorky–-delivered on the rampant early buzz. Rough around every available edge, the band's sound infuses the funk carioca of its homeland with heavy doses of punk-rock sneer, slapdash eroticism, and lo-fi charm. Credit much of the latter to the influence of executive producer Diplo (best known for his work with M.I.A.), Bonde do Rolê's so-called "discoverer" and the album's behind-the-scenes MVP. Sung and rapped in Portuguese, BDR's lyrics shout out hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa ("Marina Gasolina") in one breath and hint at salacious intentions toward an unnamed "Office Boy" in the next. Musically, BDR is equally comfortable quoting Alice in Chains, flirting loosely with the James Bond theme, or building an entire song around a kazoo riff. In all, With Lasers may not enjoy multi-generational shelf-life, but as a document of youthful exuberance, it remains one of 2007's indelibly innocent pleasures. --Jason Kirk