Tin Can Trust

I am only now hearing TIN CAN TRUST -- I missed it when it came out due to reading some reviews that said it was mediocre, due to the bad cover art, and ultimately due to bad judgement. But having heard the great new album GATES OF GOLD (2015) (see my review), I decided to check it out. I think GATES OF GOLD is better, but they are similar -- very strong albums that fall short only of the very best Los Lobos albums, their masterpieces HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE? (1984), KIKO (1992), and THE TOWN AND THE CITY (2006). There are six great Hidalgo/Perez songs: Burn It Down, On Main Street, Tin Can Trust, Jupiter Or the Moon, The Lady and the Rose, and 27 Spanishes. The last, the album closer, is a tale of the Spanish meeting the Aztecs that ends on a light and humorous note. Jupiter Or the Moon is a moving song of lost love. while The Lady and the Rose is a beautiful spiritual song about Mary. The album opener, Burn It Down, is very strong, a great example of the deep art of Los Lobos. Do the Murray is a rarity, an instrumental piece by David Hidalgo that is an up-tempo guitar showcase for one of the best guitarists on the planet. Yo Canto and Mujer Ingrata are this album's Spanish-language contributions, in traditional Mexican style, from Cesar Rosas. Rosas teams with Robert Hunter, the famed Grateful Dead lyricist, for All My Bridges Burning, a great song which puts Rosas in Hidalgo/Perez territory for a change. And finally, the band covers the Garcia/Hunter Grateful Dead song West L.A. Fadeaway, totally apropos for The Band From West L.A. Musically, this is much better than the original, with Hidalgo's fantastic bluesy guitar and without the cheesy triangle and woodblock of the IN THE DARK production. The only thing I miss is Garcia's vocal from the original -- Hidalgo is fine, but not as distinctive singing lines like "it's a shame those boys couldn't be more copacetic." Now I've caught up with this excellent album. Don't miss it.

Comparing this album to their others (I have 'em all), I'd say that Tin Can Trust has the best collection of guitar sounds and textures since The Neighborhood (1990). Even IF the songwriting has slipped a bit from their glory days of the late 1980s (and that's debatable), we're still treated to their unique and imaginative use of simple words and musical figures. They make it all add up to more than "the sum of its parts." Each tune seems to represent a different side of the band, from their textured alt-rock sounds, to roots-y blues, hippie-jam-rock, and trad. Conjunto. You might wish for more than the occasional use of Steve Berlin's sax, but you get plenty of David Hildalgo's amazing guitar playing, with Cesar Rosas and Louie Perez contributing great parts as well. The guarded optimism of Perez's lyrics are still there, too. There are very few acts still around who can add such textural variations to basic roots-y sounds and still have it come out with an unforced, natural ease. They are journeymen and masters of their craft.

Having had a chance to spin this record about 5 times now, my initial reaction holds: It's good, although I have to agree with many who comment that "All my bridges burning" is the weakest track. I'm a big fan of all things Grateful Dead and the amazing Garcia/Hunter songs, the vast majority of which have more than stood the test of time, but "All my bridges" is below mediocre. The rest of the album has a good mix of what Los Lobos have done best for about three decades now: Blues and garage rock influenced rock and roll, different styles of Mexican music, with a hint of psychedelics now and then. As another reviewer mentioned, they can whip up some killer twin guitar jams, and the recording quality is outstanding. Hope to catch them live again before too long, as they always put on a great show.

Los Lobos is one of those bands that just keeps on putting out amazing tunes but never seems to garner the following that work of this quality should. I can't imagine why. These guys are great. I know that Tin Can Trust is a CD that I'll listen to constantly. The musicianship is seamless, the lyrics are deep, and raw emotion pulsates just beneath the surface. My favorite songs are Burn It Down, with its catchy and insistent bass back beat, Jupiter or the Moon, a haunting and wistful love song, and 27 Spanishes, a wry and plaintive history of the new world in eight short verses. But every number takes you away. Highly recommended.

VINYL - Music is fantastic! Best Los Lobos yet imo. LP pressing is not flat as it should be, but keep-able. Vinyl is dead quiet, butt... The recording engineer has compressed the dynamic range terribly for the vinyl. Imaging is narrow and the mid/highs are almost missing completely. I would prefer a little sibilance edginess than this limited "canned" sound. (Vocal sibilance is an unpleasant tonal harshness that can happen during consonant syllables (like S, T, and Z), caused by disproportionate audio dynamics in upper midrange frequencies.) Maybe this was done to "fix" a edgy digital recording? I have not heard the CD, but I may give it a try.

Dip into this Trust fund to see what the amigos from East LA have been up to lately. I will admit it took me a couple additional spins to totally get into this one. While perhaps less riffing and hooks than will be found on other albums, the stories are well worth the deeper search to find the value in these tracks. And then I saw them live last summer ~ and FORGET ABOUT IT!!! I LOVE THESE GUYS!! Dios le Bendiga, Los Lobos!!!

Tin Can Trust by Los Lobos this album has quickly become one of favorite albums of 2010.excellent rock'n'roll, great guitars throughout and the vocals are soaring high. it's been a few years since they have put out a album, i glad they waited. every song is strong, even the polka sounding Spanish song. what can i say, just get it.

ラテンのロック感が心地よい好きな音。 うるさすぎず落ち着き過ぎず中年のぼくちゃんのリラックスBGMのレギュラーサウンド。

A disc I seem to have missed when it came out in spite of being a fan of what for my money will always be one of the USA's best bands. As always they shift effortlessly between genres yet still manage to tie it all together. The songwriting and musicianship are top notch and I really enjoyed listening to it and will continue to do so for years to come.