Los Lonely Boys - Texican Style (Live from Austin)
Austin-based band Los Lonely Boys are blazing onTexican Style, a 96-minute concert recorded before a huge, wildly enthusiastic audience in the Texas state capitol in March, 2004. And the brothers Garza do it with what remains rock & roll's most basic and reliable format: the rock guitar trio. True, there's nothing earth-shatteringly original going on here; guitarist Henry, like many others from Texas and everywhere else, is channeling Jimi Hendrix via Stevie Ray Vaughan, with a little Carlos Santana on the side (Jojo is the outstanding bassist, while Ringo--his real name, by the way--plays drums, of course). But Los Lonely Boys bring something else to the party: good singing (all three are capable lead and harmony vocalists), and enough other influences, from Tex-Mex to the Beatles, to forge a distinctive, melodically appealing sound. Their songs, notwithstanding the obvious influences, offer enough variety to keep things interesting, from the epic (nearly 15 minutes) "Onda" to the swinging little diversion "Supper Time," along with plenty of straight blues (like "Man to Beat," with its stone Stevie Ray minor groove) and some Los Lobos-style rock. Still in their twenties, Los Lonely Boys' future is bright--and their present ain't bad, either.--Sam Graham