Hot Heads

LES T tes brulees Hot Heads (Shanachie; CD, T) Founded in 1986, Les Tetes Brulees (the name translates as ''hot heads,'' or, more aptly, ''blown minds'') are a conscious return to the cultural roots of the Cameroon, a one-band Afro- punk revolution that ignores the slick urban sounds of the country's mainstream makossa style in favor of electrified bikutsi rhythms. The sound of their giddy, galloping tribal pop has been successful at home and is starting to find its way abroad: One of the best cuts on Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints album, ''Proof,'' is bikutsi rock at its triplet-happy finest. Fans of that song will find the real McCoy here, and while the album doesn't catch the visual frenzy of Les Tetes Brulees' live performances (the photo on the CD of the five musicians posing affably in their outrageous neo-witch doctor outfits gives a hint of what's missing), the music compensates with a hard, joyful swing that might have you staging a floor show of your own. B+ -Ty Burr