Argentine sextet rocks the room

“Infame,” the latest album by cult rock en espanol act Babasonicos, is the kind of resounding musical statement that can make you fall in love with the Latin alternative movement all over again.

A profoundly sophisticated and unexpectedly emotional recording, “Infame” inhabits a psychedelic world where the glam-rock of David Bowie and early Roxy Music coexists with the greasy Latin pop of B-list crooners such as Sandro and Roberto Carlos. And because Babasonicos’ songs are soaked in irony, the contrast between the band’s mocking spirit and its heartfelt sentimentalism keeps the music edgy and unpredictable.

On Tuesday at the Conga Room, the Argentine sextet transposed the quirky aesthetic of its studio output into a volatile performance that benefited from the antics of lead singer Adrian Dargelos.

A scrawny man blessed with the nasal voice of a neighborhood bolero singer, Dargelos will stop at nothing when it comes to entertaining an audience -- wiggling his tongue provocatively, dancing spastically to the guitar solos and emphasizing the more suggestive lyrics by staring into the audience with a perverse, if slightly dazed, look.

Combining the androgynous presence of Bowie with the in-your-face sexuality of Mick Jagger, he added layers of passion and decadence to rollicking tunes from the new album such as “Irresponsables” and “Sin Mi Diablo.”

Live, Babasonicos strives to rock your heart out. Interestingly, it was on the more contemplative numbers that the band demonstrated it is one of the few acts that really matter in contemporary Latin rock.