Once upon a time Caribbean music was unabashed party music filled with blaring horns, swaying rhythms, and unpretentious musicians who emphasized having a good time over virtuosity. Enter Lord Mouse and the Kalypso Katz, who take us back to such days by pouring on the schmaltz if it makes the party livelier. Close you eyes on “Monkey Bop” or “Limbo Song” and it could be a Havana nightclub in the mid-1950s, with a bunch of white-collared Americanos wearing skinny black ties shaking their stuff and trying not to look like they’re with the CIA. If that image strikes you as odd, try this: Lord Mouse is a Caucasian American who lives in Berlin and fronts a 17-piece German calypso band. Go Calypsonian is brassy, bodacious, sweaty, retro, and quite often intentionally silly. These Katz may be white, but they sound like calicos from where I dance.

—Rob Weir