Two standout tracks are “If You Were Only Here Tonight” and “Two Dogs And One Bone”. “If You Were Only Here” is a slow blues number driven by Hidalgo’s sorrowful vocals about the absence of someone special, even just the sound of their voice, and how that could keep you from doing something you might regret. The powerful lyrics of the night slowly becoming another day have this one hitting home for me: “what am I to do/ when the clock says half past two/ do I stare out in the dark/ or try to look for you” and “wouldn’t have did what I have done/ if you were only here tonight”. On the opposite end of the ladder is “Two Dogs”, a jump tune where the power comes through its music rather than its words, reeling and rocking the blues away.
“The City” and “The Town”, the dual title tracks, are excellent numbers that explore the themes, feel, and difference of those locales. “The City” is a study of the calling of the neon nightlife and the vices it offers. A very lively yet dark tune, propelled forward and downward by heavy organ and plunking piano, in the middle of the track there is an odd sound as if a dog's barking. It captures the scene of a late night out perfectly, how it can spiral out of control into the break of day. “The Town” is a reminiscence of the place of one’s youth and how that place in time can seem more innocent and somewhere that your heart truly resides, a place where all your friends and family are together, at least in dreams.
The rest of the album rounds out with three very 1960s soul-inspired tunes, “Little Things”, “Don’t Ask Why”, and “Free Up”. These songs are very much in the vein of soul legends Solomon Burke and Otis Redding as well as local Chicano heroes Thee Midniters and Little Ray. Los Lobos’ soulful influences shine on this CD and they twist it just far enough to make it all their own — just as they have done with everything else they’ve previously recorded.
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
Great review. Los Lobos is one of the few bands whose albums I will buy immediately upon release without any trepidation. They have consistently improved and expanded their musical depth and breadth, yet stayed true to their roots in rock. Some of their later albums are at first too much to take in, but repeated listenings make one realize just how much great music they are putting into each song.