Los Lobos

Los Lobos have dramatically evolved since bursting from East L.A. in the early '80s. Primary songwriters David Hidalgo and Louis Perez draw inspiration from the neighborhood of their youth for this, the band's brightest release since 1992's Kiko. Their themes involve the challenges of building hopes and dreams within a neighborhood (the town) while situated amidst the Southland's unrelenting urban sprawl (the city). At its heart, this is an album that illustrates where the band has gone as much as where it calls home.

With the exception of U2, no other band has stayed on top of its game as long as Los Lobos.
But while U2 constantly reinvent themselves and compete with new generations of bands,
these East L.A. vets just keep on making the same golden blend of blues, R&B, cumbia and
barrio rock & roll that they first laid down when Jimmy Carter was president. The Town and
the City, Los Lobos' best album since 1996's Colossal Head, takes on one big them... More >

Billed as a song cycle about a Chicano's epic journey from Mexican valley to neon metropolis--something like that--the East L.A. Grammy winners' 10th studio album may suit old fans but won't convert any new ones. Slightly stolid even at their best, these veteran roots-rockers have never been slower--they sound tired, depressed. There's subtlety aplenty in the singing and especially the guitar, for which credit both player David Hidalgo and mixer Tchad Blake. But unless you count the cumbia, not one song rocks out. And apart from the laid-back "Free Up," where the subtlety renders an apparent throwaway seductive with time, not one stands out either. (Grade - )