QUITAPENAS. One word — all claps. Four syllables — all caps.

Buckle up. The rhythmically contagious Afro-Latin combo from Los Angeles is back for some latin dance action. Their collective love for tropical dance genres is expressed through the blender of afrobeat, reggae, rock, and warm California sunshine. Their general inspiration is the radical 60s, 70s, and 80s — recalling the liberating evenings of Angola, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and beyond.

Quitapenas means “to remove worries.” Everybody has a pena and the band’s mission is simple: to make you dance and leave you worriless. They are modern day curanderos, or healers, and their sets stem from this core, positive action — music as healing. dance as therapy. Tambor Terapía.

Every member of the group is a first-generation child of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, and they share a collective love of all kinds of Afro-Latin music: Cape Verdean funaná, Afro-Colombian champeta, Puerto Rican plena, semba from Angola— it all translates into a party. Super bailable.

IF YOU LIKE: Son Rompe Pera, Abelardo Carbonó, Meridian Brothers, Las Cafeteras.