Pawn Shop Years
Alejandro Escovedo is better known as a solo artist than he is for his time with punk band The Nuns--or for his stint with cow-punks Rank and File--but the fact that he covers Iggy & the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in nearly every performance should be a good hint that the man likes to kick out the jams on occasion. Buick MacKane were how he satisfied his Stones/glam-rock jones while building up a solo career, and many of the songs were crossovers between solo and band sets--though with different arrangements. MacKane are big, beefy, and raw, powered by Glenn Benavides's arena-rock drums and Joe Eddy Hines's unrestrained guitar. Underneath the bluster lie some solid songs; while they rock even harder in a live setting,Pawn Shopis a great snapshot of the band's work. Bonus points for naming a song "John Conquest, You've Got Enough Dandruff on Your Collar to Bread a Veal Cutlet."--Randy Silver