Dirty Linen Reviews The Town and the City

Los Lobos
The Town and the City
Mammoth/Hollywood PRCD-11803-2 (2006)

True artists that they are, Los Lobos have taken a current and important subject and addressed it in its music, creating a recording about the immigrant experience in America. And the great band that it is, Los Lobos has produced a CD that is as appealing as it is relevant. It is a musical landscape that begins in “The Valley,” a hauntingly hopeful and
lushly discordant expression of life worked on green land and lived into blue nights. There are myriad emotions relating to the album’s theme that emerge from the music. In “Hold On” the singer seems resigned to a quiet despair as he tells of “killing myself to survive.” “Luna” and “Chuco’s Cumbia” are joyful in their respective celebrations of Mexican music. “Little Things” is sweeping and sad, a story of precious love lost in pursuit of a bigger plan. The musical styles are as mixed as the emotions. “Free Up” is that most dependable of rave-ups, a lite gospel-inflected anthem with jazzy guitar. “The City” is the centerpiece, its scope breathtaking. Specific sounds merge with the changing music. Is that a barking dog or a revving motorcycle? No matter. It evokes a gritty panorama with “lovers kissing by the door…” and “sidewalks shining from the rain…”

While this release is groundbreaking, there are enough elements present that have become a familiar part of Los Lobos’ music over the span of its more than 30-year career. “Two Dogs and a Bone” is fine roadhouse rock, and “The Road to Gila Bend,” the tale of a fugitive immigrant, is full of the band’s signature sound with a strong melody, interwoven guitars, and great harmonies. And of course David Hidalgo’s earthy vocal clarity can be heard throughout. Evoking the intoxicating sonic ambiance of 1992’s Kiko, The Town and the City boasts interesting chord changes and varying rhythms that lend it an improvisational tone. And while it in no way can be categorized as that most American form of music, it all comes together in the tradition and greatness of the coolest of jazz.

– Ellen Geisel (Ballston Lake, NY)