Magnet Magazine Review of T&C

LOS LOBOS
The Town And The City

For more than 20 years, Los Lobos have been writing the soundtrack to
the U.S./Mexico border debate from the perspective of its most
vulnerable participants: the immigrant workers. While The Town And
The City is more rigidly focused on this theme, its struggling,
displaced and generally hopeful inhabitants are strikingly similar to
those populating each of the band’s records. This time, however, grey
clouds hover over past optimism like a grim reaper. “Hold On” is a
desperate mutant-blues tune that follows a recovering addict through
the DTs. On “If You Were Only Here Tonight,” David Hidalgo’s weary,
heartbroken vocals mirror the exhaustion of a sleepless, guilt-ridden
soul after committing a violent crime. These are the tales of people
who have been swallowed up by the anonymity of a big American city,
far from mom’s sage advice, apart from loved ones, unable to focus on
the little things that make life worth living. There’s clearly an
intent to match this mood with the haunting sonic adventurousness of
Kiko, Los Lobos’ 1992 masterpiece, but ambition often outdistances
the underlying quality of the songs. “Two Dogs And A Bone” fails to
live up to the band’s best rockers, and “Free Up” is clearly intended
as a spiritual release but comes off as little more than a dippy,
laid-back jam for Jack Johnson acolytes. All this doesn’t mean to
imply you are excused from owning everything this American
institution records—just that you may have to dig around a little
this time to find moments of true brilliance. [Mammoth, www.mammoth.com]

—Ken Brandell