This Time
Most bands who've soldiered on for as long as Los Lobos find that middle-age brings a laissez-faire bargain between fame and nostalgia that makes it all too easy to coast into the sunset comfortably seated on their laurels. What's so compelling about Lobos in the 1990s and beyond is their steadfast refusal to succumb to any such temptation.This Timemarks the third chapter in their collaboration with producers Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake that yielded the outstanding and surprisingKikoandColossal Head. It's easily their most adventuresome, category-confounding outing yet.Timeoften bravely veers into the strange, liberating ethos espoused by Blake, Froom, and Lobos mainstays David Hidalgo and Louis Perez on their deliciously skewed side-project,Latin Playboys. The title track seems to slyly segue in from nowhere, "Oh Yeah" lopes into a dreamy jazz subtly punctuated by Blake's studio percussion, and "Some Say Some Do" manages a dark new techno-twist on the blues. The gritty riffing on "Viking" and "High Places" prove that the band's love affair with Hendrix is no passing fancy. Even the Latin stylings of "Cumbia Raza," the sexy "Corazon," and the playful "La Playa" get a good studio tweaking. Those who expected Los Lobos to churn out endless permutations of "La Bamba" may be disappointed at this stereotype-resistant exploration. But those who relish true adventure and master musicianship are going to very happy indeed.Que corran para siempre--Jerry McCulley