Concrete Blonde

Don't let the fact that this is the first time the original three-piece line-up of this Los Angeles-based band has recorded together since 1986 fool you. This is not the same scrappy trio that recorded Still in Hollywood back in the day. This is a trio of well-weathered veterans who have been to the high side of the music industry and back and are now, 15 years later, quite comfortable with who they are as songwriters and what they want to sound like as a band, even if mainstream audiences might not get it. Like their self-titled debut, this disc - the band's first real release since 1993's Mexican Moon - is an intriguing and indefinable cross pollination of genres from straight ahead rock ("Violent" and "Valentine") to emotionally-charged ballads ("When I Was a Fool" and "Memory") to Tex-Mex flavoured twangers ("True Part III" and "Your Llorona") with a tribute to the genius of Roxy Music ("Roxy") thrown in for good measure. Concrete Blonde has never been an easy band to categorise - just listen to their disparate-sounding hits "God is a Bullet" and "Joey" - and this record will do nothing to change that. They've had better moments than this, but then again, they've had worse too.