Yes, he’s got a smart mouth

HE lists Thomas Pynchon, Jean Cocteau, Charles Baudelaire and John Cheever among his favorite authors. Onstage, he wears dark makeup and sports the kind of androgynous outfits that would make a young David Bowie proud. In interviews, he is quick to forsake the false humility favored by celebrities, openly proclaiming the poetic grandeur of his own creations. He routinely quotes obscure authors to the Argentine media, engaging in lengthy philosophical monologues that leave young television reporters with dazed expressions on their faces.

Babasonicos’ singer Adrian Dargelos is not your average Latin music star.

In fact, nothing about this Argentine band is average.

By perfecting a volatile combination of ‘70s glam rock, British new wave and cheesy Latin pop, Babasonicos has in the last couple of years become the most promising and adventurous group in rock en espanol -- a position once occupied by Mano Negra, Fabulosos Cadillacs and Cafe Tacuba.

Surprisingly, the sextet’s relentless experimentation and perverse sense of humor have been rewarded with hefty record sales and sold-out stadiums. Babasonicos is Argentina’s most popular band right now, and a cult favorite throughout the Americas. Will the U.S. be able to resist the group’s eccentric charm and Franz Ferdinand-like dynamics?

“There are plenty of intelligent music lovers in the U.S.,” says Dargelos. “Why shouldn’t we become a phenomenon over there? We provide the kind of trance and emotion that are missing from rock ‘n’ roll these days. We dignify this music.”

Arrogance is a natural part of Dargelos’ public persona. He uses it as a disguise, a badge of honor, proof of admittance to the top echelons of rock royalty. “When we started out in our barrio, we had nothing,” he said once, discussing the band’s beginnings in the working-class Buenos Aires neighborhood of Lanus during the early ‘90s. “As a reaction, I tried to become Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie all wrapped up in one singer.”

Dargelos has shown the talent to justify his outrageous statements.

When Babasonicos released its breakthrough album “Jessico” in 2001, a cacophonous orgy of spaghetti western soundtracks, sleazy South American boleros and organ-laden lounge, the Argentine music press predicted that he would never be able to surpass such a bold artistic statement. “Jessico” was named album of the year by the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

Two years later, Dargelos laughed in the mainstream’s face with “Infame,” one of the most exhilarating and defining moments in the entire Latin rock movement. Songs such as the subversive “Putita” became leftfield hits, chanted at concerts by the group’s growing audience of teen girls.

In 2005, Dargelos completed his personal trilogy of rock manifestos with “Anoche” (Last Night), a rollicking album of short, punchy rockers that betrayed the influence of Black Sabbath, Depeche Mode and (why not?) Julio Iglesias.

“We’re like divers in the night, looking for beautiful songs in the fragile depths of our own imagination,” Dargelos says when asked about his writing.

During a phone interview from his home in Buenos Aires, his staccato, Italian-tinged, Argentine-accented Spanish provides a bizarre contrast to such melodramatic words as “Writing an album is like embarking on a journey without thinking about reaching your final destination. To me, it’s all about the search.”

A compulsive reader, Dargelos has often declared that he would like nothing more than to go into seclusion somewhere in the vast provinces of Argentina with a pile of books. Still, he’s already thinking about the next Babasonicos opus.

“With each new record, we try to balance out the one that came before it,” he says. “So I guess it’s time to make a dance-friendly album. Something that sounds like the new Sean Paul.” He laughs. “I’m hopelessly lost when it comes to my taste in music. Right now, I’m listening to Daft Punk, Hot Chip and Jose Gonzalez.”

The El Rey performance will function as the North American release party for “Anoche,” with a scheduled tour of major cities to follow later this year. It is the band’s third attempt at expanding its fan base in the U.S. Although Babasonicos would appear to be a logical programming choice for eclectic radio stations such as KCRW-FM (89.9), it has so far been ignored by the mainstream media -- possibly because it lacks the Afro-Caribbean or folk elements associated with Latin rock in this country.

And what’s the key to Babasonicos’ survival in the finicky world of rock en espanol, where excellent groups from all over Latin America have bitten the dust?

“We’re like the Stones,” he says. “We keep switching our point of view so as to reflect a reality that keeps shifting. And we have an attitude. We are the avant-garde of the poetic protest.”

*

Babasonicos

Where: El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Cost: $25

Info: (323) 936-4790