Home > Music > CD Review > Alejandro Escovedo, 'Real Animal'

Alejandro Escovedo, 'Real Animal'

Latino alt-country legend gets punked

By Scott Thill

Special to Metromix
June 23, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Backstory: Alejandro Escovedo has a great musical pedigree. His brothers Pete and Coke Escovedo are Latin percussion legends, while his niece Sheila Escovedo made a pop and funk splash as Sheila E. For his part, Alejandro stuck with punk, shredding with the Nuns before moving on to help attach the word "alt" to the word "country" with a series of solo releases across two decades. Along the way, he's made an impact: after falling critically ill with Hepatitis C, artists like Steve Earle, Son Volt, Lucinda Williams, John Cale and more offered up the benefit tribute "Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo."

Why you should care: Escovedo is a truthful troubadour, whose down-home stomps lapse quickly into epic narratives from a time-weathered narrator. "I love people," he whoops as the optimistic warning "People (We're Only Gonna Live So Long)" finishes, reminding us how lucky we are to be alive. Plus, the addition of producer Tony Visconti (Bowie, T. Rex) is a nice touch, especially on the ethereal "Golden Bear," where the skewed synths from Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" make a postmodern comeback.

Verdict: Escovedo shoots and scores here on a few fronts. Those who love slow-burning classics will be covered on radio-friendly tracks like "Always a Friend," "Sister Lost Soul" and "Slow Down." Others who prefer dark grooves and apocalyptic reminiscences will dig "Chelsea Hotel '78" and "Smoke." The dirty throwback rock of "Nuns Song" is a refreshing smokescreen for Escovedo's expository heart, driven home further on the ode to Iggy Pop, "Real As an Animal."

X-Factor: In 2005, Escovedo discovered that his tune "Castanets" was found on one of President George W. Bush's iPod playlists. He dropped the track from his live set list shortly thereafter.

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