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Was it really 5 years ago that Los Lobos played at the Somerset House Festival? Was it really last year we were in the sun at the Hop Farm Festival? Well the answer is yes on both counts and if you’re Los Lobos and you’re going to launch your new album, I can’t think of a better place to do it than this years’ Hop Farm Festival.

Tin Can Trust was recorded in East LA earlier this year and all but one of the tracks was written by the band. Most of the songs are by the creative duo of David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez and these form the backbone of the album.

The title track harks back to the days of slow blues Old Grey Whistle Test that’s ideal for this hot weather we’re having at the moment and the opener ‘Burn It Down’ has the feel of a slow burner on the Mexican boarder with some mandolin and Dick Dale-ish guitar twang that goes almost Dinosaur Jr. at the end

And whilst we’re moving south of the boarder, Cesar Rosas has written three tracks on the album. The cumbia swing of ‘Yo Canto’ (as a quick aside, I know there’s killer Soundway compilations I need to catch up with but this is like the pop-rock version), ‘Mujer Ingrata’ (yep, the Tex Mex polka one) and Rosas shares the credit on ‘All My Bridges Burning’ with Robert Hunter. Robert Hunter? Yes, the very same of Grateful Dead fame. ‘All My Bridges Burning’ is very West Coast rock heritage (especially that guitar solo). And they also record the Dead’s ‘West L.A. Fadeaway’ (via the genius of the late Jerry Garcia and Hunter) that’s been a favourite in their live set and it’s definitely got that laid-back rock-blues feel of rollin’ down the freeway.

And if you want to rock out, ‘Do The Murray’ is one of those twin axe rockin’ blues instrumentals that make Bob Harris grin from ear to ear - love the Pérez drums on this one and ‘27 Spanishes’ is like a subdued ‘Cortez The Killer’; again, why so short!

So back north of the boarder, ‘On Main Street’ is Los Lobos doing “rootsy, gutsy” like they do best with the Chicano/Spanish good time going on at the same time; shame this one fades out but again a likely contender as a live show highlight. And another that’s high on casual cool is ‘Jupiter Or The Moon’ that goes a bit psych-prog rock in the middle.

I’m afraid Tin Can Trust is not the greatest title for an album but the title track will get you with its ‘love wins out over cash’ message.

So whilst the guitar band may not be the ‘flavour of the month’ at the moment, quality bands (guitar or otherwise) like Los Lobos will always have a huge popular following and as more people hear Tin Can Trust, they will build even more bridges with new fans. This is much better than Florence & The Machine who were at Hop Farm last year (is it just me? see HERE) and if you are more impressed with great music than hype, Los Lobos could be the surprise hit of the year?

“I need a West LA girl”, I know how you feel buddy - play that guitar.

Reviewed: Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust (Proper) Cat. No. PRPCD065/LP065 Release date: 9th August 2010
Tracklisting:
1. Burn It Down (5:11)
2. On Main Street (3:17)
3. Yo Canto (2:59)
4. Tin Can Trust (4:35)
5. Jupiter Of The Moon (4:22)
6. Do The Murray (3:36)
7. All My Bridges Burning (4:52)
8. West L.A. Fadeaway (7:04)
9. The Lady And The Rose (4:11)
10. Mujer Ingrata (2:46)
11. 27 Spanishes (4:37)

Links:
loslobos.org
www.myspace.com/loslobos
www.hopfarmfestival.com 2/3 July 2010
propermusic.com