Review: Los Lobos- Tin Can Trust

First off, there's the door. If you think of Los Lobos as that one band that remade La Bamba and haven't done anything since, leave. For the rest of us, Los Lobos have been putting out album after album for over 30 years and have shifted styles to just about everything while not losing their Mex-Rock appeal. If you don't know where to begin with the band, you're in luck. Tin Can Trust is the perfect introduction for those checking in.

The album greatly showcases the musical abilities of this band, I remarked to my daf that every other song seemed to have two bitchin' guitar solos and even one track, "Do the Murray" is just dedicated to showing of the talents with no vocals whatsoever, just straight up rock. And really, this album straight up rocks, the more upbeat tunes oon this album carry it and keep it from being a bore that one may have expected.

Many styles are visited here. "On Main Street" could easily pass off as a lo-fi indie rock track that P4K or Stereogum would splooge over. "Yo Canto" is a kick ass number done in spanish with the exact chicano rock stylings fans have expected. It's a fist pumper in a very different way. The other non-english track "Mujer Ingrata", is one that would feel right at home at Market Square during Fiesta week in San Antonio, or an East L.A. BBQ.

The lowest points on this album are when the band slows down. It's not that these songs themselves are bad, but smack dab in the middle of the album gives it an uneven feel. "Lady and the Rose" and "Jupiter on the Moon" aren't poor songs, but poorly placed on an album that thrives when it's at its fastest. But if the songs weren't on the album, it would probably leave the elder crowd grasping for air with how fast this album moves.

Los Lobos are a little more than a critically acclaimed band, they're the standard for chicano rock. The past decade was great for them as it brought plenty of acclaim and interest the band hadn't generated in years. This album will hopefully continue that streak. They won't be the biggest band in the world, but they sure as hell deserve your attention. For a band many can consider the Mexican Wilco or Chicano Radiohead, we can only hope that Hidalgo/Perez keep on putting out music that is as interesting and fresh sounding as Yorke/Greenwood.

**** out of *****

Review: Best Coast- Crazy for You

Bethany Cosentino is the lead singer and songwriter for L.A. trio Best Coast. She operates a lot like Nathan Williams of Wavves. Both make surf rock, A.M. Gold and punk rock, and both love writing songs about weed. And while Beth hasn't had an onstage meltdown yet, we can only assume it's a matter of time considering the content in Best Coast's debut album. "Crazy for You" isn't short on song about being idle and lost love, in fact, it's the perfect album for summer time introspection.

"Boyfriend" leads off the album with a lo-fi ballad that finds Cosentino longing for her knight in shining armor. It's one of a few songs that actually has something positive for the male crowd as they tend to get painted as jerks in this album, and rightfully so. But like other songs, "The End" included, all Beth wants is to be loved, it seems like a lot to ask for, especially for someone who is painted as being lazy, lacking direction, and loves her weed.

"Goodbye" and "I Want To" solidify the straight forward narration of this album. Not much if anything is cryptic, in fact, anybody could grasp the emotions of this album, they're all basically the same, much like the songs on here. And while it isn't the most original album in the world, it's refreshing in this age of indie rock to find an album that's not hard to grasp and actually goes down smooth.

The album is a half hour of fun. Hell, the longest song on this album is a whopping three minutes and two seconds, and it happens to be the best cut of the album and probably the best song of the year. "Honey" is a sexy, sleek, slow grooving track that puts a change up in the album and begs for repeated listenings. Needless to say it's a nice change of pace for the album, even if it sounds like a Cranberries tune.

When all is said and done though, Best Coast have put out a solid debut. It's not going to change the landscape of music at all, but as far as jangle pop and lo-fi music is concerned, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better album that displays it well. Punk rock, surf rock, your mom's 70's preset station, there's something here for everyone. And damn it, isn't it about time for something we can all agree on.

**** out of *****

Review: Big Boi- Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

It was a hell of a decade for Outkast. They put out two of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, gathering all the critical acclaim and fan support you could possibly get. Then they ended the decade by releasing the turd "Idlewild", and it's hard for me to tell you which was worse, the album or the movie. No need to fear though, it's a new decade and Big Boi is back. Dre isn't with him this time around, and that may be for the best, at least this time around.

"Sir Lucious Left Foot" is full of bangers, and it's reason to see why every music critic out there was awaiting this solo debut. I can't count how many times I listened to "Speakerboxxx" in high school, and it was far superior to Dre's "The Love Below", and while Dre has always been all show with some game, Big Boi is all game, and he has stepped it up.

Big Boi is still rapping about Caddy's and Subwoofers, the usual, "Daddy Fat Sax" is the second song off the album, and with that, Big Boi is back, teriffic production by R. DJ, and Big Boi's flawless flow make it the best song on the album and a perfect beginning. This sets the stage for "Turns Me On", and with Sleepy Brown and Joi sharing time with Big Boi, we're batting 1.000 thanks to this fun, dirty, little tune.

Fun and dirty is what this album is all about, we're not talking inner city problems here, but this ain't crap spewed by "generic rapper #42", but that's not to say this album has some downfalls. "Follow Us" is a very weak track that's made weaker by Vonnegutt who sounds like Andy Samberg doing a Lonely Island track. Jamie Foxx doesn't add much to "Hustle Blood" which comes off more like a forced studio track to be released as a single and sell some records.

But while the low points are low, the high points are very high. "Shutterbug" is fantastic, and being followed by the quite funny and quite awesome "General Patton" is another good one-two punch that gets the asses shaking in a hurry with grins from ear to ear. It comes as no surprise that Janelle Monae offers the best guest spot on "Be Still" adding that R&B punch that every rapper has now, the difference is, is that Monae kicks the asses of her counterparts like Beyonce or Rhianna who tend to make things more generic than they need to be.

While it isn't the masterpiece that "Speakerboxxx" was, "Sir Lucious Left Foot" is a great reminder of why we need Big Boi in the hip-hop world. He's a divide between the self serious (Common, Talib, Mos...etc.) and the so called kingpins (Jay-Z, Kanye, Eminem). It's refreshing to hear an album like this while the genre seems to be in a downward spiral. Hip-hop may be "dead", but Big Boi is keeping the flame alive.

**** out of *****

Review: Wavves- King of the Beach

Nathan Williams comitted career suicide as far as I'm concerned. His public meltdown in Spain last year was a hit with the hipster crowd on Youtube, and Williams' outbursts and problems are probably as forgiven and encouraged as those of Robert Pollard. And like Pollard, Wavves have been able to craft short, experimental, and mostly upbeat songs making for easy listening. "King of the Beach" is no different in that aspect, but in nearly all the others, this is almost a different band to begin with, and not just because of the members.

Borrowing from the late Jay Reatard, Williams has given his band new life and that means a new sound. The surf rock/lo-fi sound is still in tact, but these songs aren't just rockers, they're actually pop perfection, or as close to it as it can get anyway. There's an Animal Collective/AM Gold sound coming through, and as weird as it may sound, it works, and granted, that's only half the charm of the album and Wavves in general.

The other half of their charm has always been Williams' lyrics. On this album, he sounds defeated and is showing self loathing at its best. "Idiot" is a prime example with its laughs to lead off, before jumping into a pop-punk gem. "I'd say I'm sorry, but it wouldn't mean shit" Williams croons with a fast approach and "ooh's" and "aahs" to back him up. Williams clearly doesn't give a fuck, and probably doesn't have to. "Green Eyes" also basks in the pity party with lines like "my own friends hate my guts...I don't give a fuck...I don't give a shit", it's as cool as it sounds.

"Baseball Cards" follows later in the album and is the best example of their Animal Collective and Brian wilson like approach to songwriting, it's something we've heard a dozen times, but it still sounds fresh and invigorating. "Mickey Mouse" brings the same thing that made "Baseball Cards" fun to listen to, with these two tracks, it's really hard not to get lost in this album and what exactly Williams is doing.

Unlike M.I.A. who built up her reputation between albums only to not follow through, Williams goes in a totally different direction and delivers when it counts. "King of the Beach" may be a little repetitive at times and the contrating styles are nothing we haven't heard before, but at this point, nobody is doing it much better. Nathan Williams is a young guy, and we can only hope that he can keep everything together long to keep putting out music as good as this.


**** 1/2 out of *****

Review: Tokyo Police Club- Champ

Watching Tokyo Police Club's performance at Coachella this year, I couldn't help but take note of the fact that they looked more mature and sure of themselves on stage. They played a hefty mix of their debut album and songs from "Champ" and it was easy to distinguish which songs came from which album even if you weren't familiar with the band. The songs off "Elephanst Shell" came off more like beat stompers and the kind of songs a band who would open up for Blink 182 would. The songs off "Champ", not so much.

This is a more relaxed effort from the Canadian band who find themselves more at ease and better song writers. The lyrics that Dave Monks sing aren't childish as they could be, instead they could almost be looked at as thoughtful and even engaging. Album opener "Favourite Food" and "Hands Reversed" not only act as supreme stand out tracks for the album, but a hell of a showcase for a once buzzband who show what they can do when they reach their potential.

That's not to say this album doesn't have its problems. Like Wolf Parade's "Expo 86", the keyboards in this album are nearly in danger of being beat to death, but unlike that album, they're kept in check for the most part and it doesn't ruin the album entirely. The album is also short and a little flat in the back and it makes for a top heavy and uneven listen, but if it were any longer, it would probably drag.

The album is able to overcome its flaws though, making for a listen that's worthy of your time and actually a surprise to those who expected the ultimate sophomore slump if there was ever one. Tokyo Police Club have crafted an album blazing with a bigger production value and actually makes great use of it, not letting it go to waste, and at the same time, not making a watered down, more far reaching pop record then they could have made.

At this rate, Tokyo Police Club could become the new leaders of this somewhat new wave revival. An unexpected surprise, but a good one. It doesn't require careful listening, and it's not going to change the indie landscape as you see it, but damned if you can't get happy at a band with a lot of hype, wanting to live up to it and working hard for it. If that's not respectable in this current day and age in music, I don't know what is.

*** 1/2 out of *****

Review: Wolf Parade- Expo 86

Look at that cover and tell yourself it's not the greatest thing you've ever seen! Wolf Parade are an Canadian Indie Rock Band, and if you've heard one Wolf Parade song, you've heard them all. Hell, itf you've heard one Wolf Parade song, you've heard just about every fast breaking indie rock song made. That's not to say they're a bad band or even lazy, but the thing seperating them from their own spotlight or being a crappier band like Hot Hot Heat is the shared vocal duties of Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug. Both gentleman have a croon that's easy to distinguish from most of their other counterparts.

If you're tuning in for the first time, Wolf Parade started off with "Apologies to the Queen Mary", which every other person named the best album of 2005. And while I can't say how high it ranked on any year end or decade lists, "Shine a Light" does rank as one of the best songs ever writtenm and it's hard to imagine a better written song off of a debut album. They followed that up with a sophomore slump in "At Mount Zoomer", which in all honesty, sounded like a retread of their debut. So facing a position to where they can either be titans of stadium indie rock or another group with failed expectations, Wolf Parade drop this on us, hoping to regain that strong form.

"Expo 86" is a good album, no more, no less. It's sort of lazy in how it entertains because not much is exciting and it's nothing we haven't heard before. "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" is a promising opener, delivering the brand of break neck music and quivering singing we've come to know and love, it's a hopeful tune and starts the album off right. "Palm Road" follows, and this is where it gets dicey. Another romper stomper anthem but what kills it and the majority of the album is the heavy use of synthesizers, adding a rich layer of sounding dated. It ruins a good chunk of the songs and it suffers from "Year Zero Syndrome". For those out of the loop, Year Zero Syndrome is when an albums songs have the same formula after a promising start, it's crafted after Nine Inch Nails' shit sandwich album.

It's not to say that "Expo 86" doesn't have its fair share of great songs. "Two Men in New Tuxedos" is the shortest song on the album, but it has a depth of richness and warmth and excitement that goes along with some of the best material the band has ever written. Closer "Cave-O-Sapien" suffers from a stupid title, but it is a titan of a track that caps off what could've been a titan of an album had so many of the songs been left untouched by what almost sounds like 80's keytars.

It's not an album that is going to win their fanbase over, but would probably serve better as an introduction to the band. None of the songs match the greatness that was "Shine a Light", and they're not going to become big stars, but Wolf Parade are playing it safe for right now. Hopefully they'll take more chances next time around, but it really isn't anything to be ashamed of just three albums into their lifespan.

*** out of *****