Music Review: Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal

It's really quite amazing how many gifted performers there are in the world of popular music who seem to fly under most people's radar. Part of the problem is that most of them aren't ever going to find themselves getting what you'd call extensive radio play or being the flavour of the week. One thing that most of these folk seem to have in common is a passionate love for what they do and for the energy that is so integral to playing Rock & Roll.

In most of these folk's hands Rock & Roll is still the music of the streets, and has a wild and untamed feel to that makes it just a little unsafe - just like Rock & Roll should be. That was the big attraction to Punk when it came along in the seventies, it made Rock & Roll dangerous again, gave it back the edge that had been smoothed away by corporate decision makers and pretentious progressive rockers.

A musician who has slid under my radar for the last 30 years has been Alejandro Excovedo. I know it sounds sort of silly, but after listening to his latest release, Real Animal on Manhattan Records, I can't help but think that he sounds just like what a musician from New York City should sound like. I don't know if there is such a thing as a "New York" sound officially like there is a Detroit sound, but there's something about Alejandro that exclaims New York City in neon lights as bright as any sign on Broadway.

From the tips of his spiked hair to the points of his cowboy boots, and the black clothing and shades in between, he definitely looks the part. His music has that sharp edge and buzz of excitement that makes me think of the streets of New York. From the pure pop sound of the opening song, "Always A Friend", the raw power of "Chelsea Hotel '78", to the nearly sentimental sound of "Sensitive Boys," Alejandro covers almost all the approaches possible to a Rock & Roll song.

In case I've left you with the impression that the music on this disc is bare bones or minimalist, that's far from the case. Alejandro and producer Tony Visconti have incorporated saxophone, cello, and violin to fill out the sound. Yet in keeping with the overall tone of the disc, one of driving energy and power, those instruments are used in such a manner that they augment the strength of the music without making it sound over produced. In fact I don't think I've heard strings used before in quite the Rock & Roll manner as they've been used here.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the forthcoming book What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and has had his work published in print and on line all over the world. The not so long-haired Canadian iconoclast writes reviews and opines on the world as he sees …

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