Los Lonely Boys - Rockpango
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CD Details
Artist: Los Lonely BoysEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2011-03-29
Music Label: Playing In Traffic
Soundtracks:
- American Idle
- Fly Away
- Love In My Veins
- Road To Nowhere�¨
- 16 Monkeys
- Rockpango
- Smile
- Baby Girl�¨
- Change The World
- Porn Star�¨
- Believe
Music reviews of Rockpango
Music Review: Sex, Drugs, and Poor Songwriting. Very Disappointing.
Rating: 2 Stars
DISCLAIMER: I know there are some out there who won't agree with the reasoning behind my low ratings, and that is perfectly fine. This review is merely my opinion, and I am not pompous enough to think that my subjective tastes in music equal some sort of objective universal standard for what constitutes "good music." I have moral objections to a few songs on this album, but I know there are people who don't share my values. Such is life!
THE REVIEW: Like every other person who has ever heard Los Lonely Boys, I have eagerly been awaiting new material. When I heard about "Rockpango," I was obviously extremely excited. I purposely avoided reading early reviews or audio spoilers, and bought the album sight unseen. After three nearly flawless full-length studio albums, a couple of excellent live albums, and a sweet EP cover-album, I figured "Rockpango" was a sure-fire win. I mean, right?
Wrong. Every band makes a clunker of an album at least once in their careers, and "Rockpango" is definitely a low point for Los Lonely Boys. There are some gems on the album, but the low spots are REALLY low.
The things that appealed to me about Los Lonely Boys when I heard their first album were 1) their obvious instrumental proficiency used to create a unique Texican sound, 2) their sweet harmonies, and 3) the positive message of faith, hope, and love found in nearly every song. Essentially, they had a sweet, clean, rockin' sound that I could play anywhere I went and in any company. I never had to worry about profanity, vulgar references, or overt sexual references popping out of my speakers when driving around with my kids, nieces, or nephews. They sang about love and women, but always respectfully. It was refreshing.
Enter "Rockpango."
The album starts off in grand LLB style. "American Idle," more rock than blues, asks some mature, weighty questions about materialism and loving each other as human beings. "Fly Away" continues the LLB tradition of joyful, uplifting, respectful love songs in an acoustic-heavy Texican style. The funky "Love In My Veins" follows, another testament the strong love between a man and his woman. Track #4 is "Road to Nowhere," a soulful blues piece with some gorgeous orchestration, is arguably the best and most mature track on the album.
So far so good. Enter "16 Monkeys," LLB's first ever tribute to the joys of using drugs and getting stoned. The "Higher Ground"-esque bass line is kind of catchy, but the song ultimately sounds like a poor attempt to imitate Beck. It was severely disappointing to hear a bunch of garbage "day-tripper" lyrics coming out of my speakers:
"16 monkeys on a chuck wagon rolling down the road / going round town telling everybody let's get stoned / I'm gonna take a trip to outer space because I want to, I need to / I'm seeing lots of colors / the sun's a ball of butter / and I feel good, so good / my spaceships flying / I'm an astro boy / I watched the cow jump over the moon / he said play me a song / but the notes were wrong and out of tune / I guess my cocoa puffs fell off my spoon"
Dubya. Tee. Eff? What is this crap?!? If I wanted to hear a bunch of garbage about how "cool" drugs are, I would listen to the million other loser drug-obsessed bands out there who sing about them. Why am I hearing this on a LLB album?! Take a note, LLB: The Beatles used to make good music. Then they learned how cool drugs were and started making steaming piles of dung in place of good music. Don't be like The Beatles.
Thankfully, the album moves on to two more great tracks. "Rockpango" is a song about strength and freedom. "Smile" is another innocent love song.
Then the fun-train comes off the rails again with "Baby Girl." It is like someone told LLB, "Hey, you better make a song that will get all of the bar sluts to dance." I'm not going to take the time to type out all of the mind-numbingly dumb lyrics, but the listener will be treated to such deep, thoughtful lines as, "Come on baby girl / Ima rock your world," and "Oh shake it uh huh / drop it like its hot / come on touch me baby," or "sugar move your hips for me / come on girl give me all your loving."
Could you feel your brain cells dying? *sigh* Not only are the lyrics cheesy and cliche, but the sexuality is just juvenile. I hate to repeat my comments from above, but if I wanted to hear a song about dry humping some chick on the dance floor, I would listen to any of the million other sex-obsessed musicians/bands out there. Why am I hearing this tripe on a LLB album? LLB does respectful and thoughtful love songs, not bump-n-grind musical smut.
Then, the album oddly goes into another deep song, "Change The World," before going right back into the garbage bin with "Porn Star." "Porn Star?" Really guys? Another "classy" song that will never be played around respectable company or children.
The album finally goes out with a whimper on the wanna-be hard rock "Believe." There is nothing really horrible about the song, the message is good, it just has a weak melody and the "rock" sound ends up sounding a bit garage-band-ish.
So, overall, once the song about drug use is eliminated, the juvenile cliched sexual odes are fired, and the weak closer is put out of its misery, you end up with an EP's worth of 7 songs for the price of a full album. It is a shame, because if the LYRICS of "16 Monkeys," "Baby Girl," and "Porn Star" are taken away, the MUSIC behind them is really very good.
I definitely won't be buying a Los Lonely Boys album "sight unseen" from now on. Next time, I preview the crap out of it and buy only the tracks I like. "Rockpango" = weakest Los Lonely Boys album so far.
More Rockpango free music reviews:
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Description of Rockpango
Hailed by All Music Guide as 'one of America's premier rock bands,' Los Lonely Boys expand and enhance their trademark all-embracing Texican rock'n'roll sound on Rockpango, the band's fourth and finest studio album yet. Continuing to creatively draw from and meld blues, rock from classic to modern, soul, their Latino heritage and even snippets of hip-hop, jazz and more, they display greater assurance, creativity and sophistication than ever on their new disc while continuing to offer infectious music that goes straight to the heart. The stuff that made Los Lonely Boys stars- luscious brotherly vocal harmonies, potent songs with unshakeable pop appeal, irresistible grooves and Henry Garza's masterful guitar work's are in full abundance on Rockpango. It's a great leap forward by one of rock music's finest groups.Alternative Rock CDs
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