** King Chango, “The Return of El Santo,” Luaka Bop.

Like fellow Venezuelans and Luaka Bop label-mates Los Amigos Invisibles, King Chango attempts to fuse mainstream dance sounds with meat-and-potatoes South American folklore. But though Los Amigos limits itself to a few well-chosen obsessions (bossa nova, funk and electronica), Chango’s sonic greed knows no limits. It is no coincidence, either, that this messy, unfocused comeback album took years to record (the band’s superior ska-oriented debut was released in 1996) and that it comes out one year after the outfit’s unofficial breakup. Some of the elements here make for good campy fun, but, as a whole, the record is more vacuous than fulfilling, more bitter than sweet.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.