Good Morning Aztlán

Performer: Los Lobos
Producer: John Leckie; Los Lobos
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Los Lobos: David Hidalge (vocals, guitars, requinto jarocho, melodica, bass, drums); Cesar Rosas (vocals, guitar, quatro); Conrad Lozano (vocals, bass); Louie Perez (guitar, jarana, drums, percussion); Steve Berlin (flute, saxophone, midisaxophone, keyboards, percussion). Additional personnel: Martha Gonzalez (vocals); Bucky Baxter (steel guitar); Fermin Herrera (Veracruz harp); Cougar Estrada, Pete Thomas (drums, percussion); Rick Marotto (drums); Victor Bisetti (percussion). Recorded at CRG Studios, Rowland Heights and Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California. This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Jettisoning the studio bells-and-whistles used by the Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake production team throughout the '90s, Los Lobos change gears by hooking up with Radiohead/XTC producer John Leckie on GOOD MORNING AZTLAN, the band's 10th full-length album. Named for the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs, this 12-pack of songs draws deeply from Los Lobos' unique mix of rock, R&B, blues, and Mexican folk music. With David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas cranking up their guitars, songs like the title cut and the rumbling shuffle "Done Gone Blue" juice up the proceedings alongside mellower fare like the Curtis Mayfield-flavored soul of "The Word" and the delicate Latin flavors of "Malaque." Ever aware of their roots in East L.A., these first-generation Mexican Americans have always made a point of writing about those who've come to this country to achieve the American dream. "Tony & Maria" finds the band revisiting characters first written about on 1985'S HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE, only to find these immigrants facing a life of fading hope. Other high points find saxman Steve Berlin blasting through the gritty funk-rock "Get To This," Quetzal singer Martha Gonzalez's harmonies gilding the soulful "Hearts Of Stone," and all of Los Lobos sizzling on the cumbia "Maria Christina."

Rolling Stone (7/25/02, p.73) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A return to their early bread and butter: roots rock spiked with R&B, soul and folk sounds they absorbed growing up among Mexican immingrants....a record as poignant as it is rollicking..." Entertainment Weekly (6/7/02, p.76) - "...A working-band album: a sturdy, consolidating set of refined boogie and chugging border music..." - Rating: B Uncut (1/03, p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A peppery soup of Tex-Mex, country-blues and good-time R&B..." CMJ (7/1/02, p.5) - "...Hits the ground running from the get-go....The band's roughness and grit has been polished to a high sheen on this effort...Thank god we have musicians like [Los Lobos] to carry the torch." Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.96) - "It's the energy that hits you....And the music is still that addictive mix of rock'n'roll and midtempo R&B/soul ballads, shot through with Hispanicisms..."

They began playing traditional Mexican music in their native East L.A. in the mid-'70s, but Los Lobos were galvanized by the California punk movement. By the early '80s they were a rock band to be reckoned with, purveying a highly charged brand of roots-rock distinctively colored by conjunto and Latin shadings. Their '90s work with producer Mitchell Froom found them heading into new worlds of textural sonic exploration.

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