Javier Escovedo - City Lights - 2008

Javier Escovedo is a southern California musician who is best known as the singer, guitarist and chief songwriter of the legendary seventies punk rock band The Zeros (Bomp Records). That group was known for its infectious, spirited songs; its raucous, lively shows and a handful of fabulous singles that are now valued collectors’ items. During the eighties, Javier relocated to Austin, Texas where he joined his brother Alejandro Escovedo in the True Believers (EMI Records), one of America’s finest rock bands operating during the period. The group’s two albums on a single compact disc, "Hard Road." (Rykodisc Records) is well worth searching out. In fact, the Escovedo family is full of talent: older brothers Pete and Coke recorded and toured with Santana and Herbie Hancock; younger brother Mario was in The Dragons, and niece Sheila E often works with Prince. Meanwhile, since the break-up of The True Believers, Alejandro has been kept busy with a solo career that has garnered much critical acclaim. Javier's songwriting is internationally known. The Nomads (Sweden) have recorded two of his songs. "Black and White," a song from The Zeros, was a Number Two record in Sweden for the group Sator. The Hoodoo Gurus of Australia and French sensation Calvin Russel have also recorded Javier's songs. It is a complete mystery why Javier, a man with so much ability, is just now releasing his first solo album, City Lights, but here it is, and it’s a fine one, packed full of intelligent, straight-ahead rock songs that are instant classics. Some excellent musicians and technicians supplied enthusiastic support for Javier on the recordings. The backing band consists of Brian Young (Fountains Of Wayne) on drums; Joe Bass (Posies) on bass; and Josh Schwartz (Beachwood Sparks) on guitar, vocals and recording console, John Contreras ..o, Dave James on guitar Eliza Randazzo on violin and Victor Penalosa on guitar and vocals. Keyboards were handled by Brian Lebarton (Beck) and Matt Beck (Rob Thomas). Rick Parker at Sandbox did additional recording. Every song is catchy, rockin’ fun with an attitude that is right from the heart and steaming with the same youthful vibrancy The Zeros had thirty years ago. This is the kind of material Javier has been writing all his life, but only now has had the opportunity to unleash on the public.



Javier Escovedo - City Lights - 2008/rs
or
Javier Escovedo - City Lights - 2008/sb

Check out the music video from The Singles "Can You Go Out Tonight?"

Thanks for watching..

The Singles

The Olympic Hopefuls - The Fuses Refuse to Burn - 2004

As veterans of the Minneapolis music scene, The Hopefuls (Formerly the Olympic Hopefuls), have earned their stripes in many other groups. Adventurous musicians, the longtime friends began experimenting with a sound that was completely different from their other bands. And this is how The Hopefuls’ unabashed indie pop was born. Born a duo named Camaro, they played with several transient members, airing the charming innocence of ‘60s-era pop cuts like ‘Drain the Sea’ and the bittersweetness of anti-love songs like ‘Pretty Bigmouth’ to enthusiastic crowds. To appease their fans and stalkers, they recorded the album that had become long overdue. Their full-length debut, titled ‘The Fuses Refuse to Burn,’ is slick in all the right places but always full of soul and surprises, and combines a bit of Weezer guitar grit with the playful, carefree anthems of bands like The Cars and The Apples in Stereo. -2024records.com




The Olympic Hopefuls - The Fuses Refuse to Burn - 2004/rs
or
The Olympic Hopefuls - The Fuses Refuse to Burn - 2004/sb

Anderson Council - Coloursound - 2001

The Anderson Council's debut is likely to give the listener the impression this fashionable young New Jersey band would rather climb into a time machine to transport themselves back to "Swinging London in the '60s" than be forced to record something contemporary sounding. Coloursound, in fact, sounds like a band circumnavigating their way backwards in time, with the dials for their Wayback Machine set for "Carnaby Street, 1967" (even though they've obviously detoured along the way to pick up stray power pop influences). They seem so devoted to re-creating music and obsessed with the process of sounding as vintage as possible, that they've neglected to infuse their music with a personality of its own. Some of this album (produced by Rick Reil and Kurt Reil of the Grip Weeds, another New Jersey band who are big on retro-fit rock) even sounds like it was influenced by the third- or fourth-wave mod revivalists, bands like the Chords, the Lambrettas, and the Purple Hearts. In addition to these influences, there are also Mellotron-powered tunes, like "Mind Meld Mud," which tumble out like re-creations of post-"Strawberry Fields Forever" psychedelia without having any resonance of their own. Repeated listenings to Coloursound reveals it to be an album that wears thin fairly quickly. Even the two faux Coca Cola jingles (one is tacked on to the end of "So In Love With You Girl") that were fun the first time around sound a bit cloying and amateurish during subsequent spinnings. Vocalist/guitarist Peter Horvath's affected English accent also tends to give the band an amateurish feel, as though he's fronting a cover band who were hired to entertain conventioneers in downtown New Brunswick. - AMG



Anderson Council - Coloursound - 2001/rs
or
Anderson Council - Coloursound - 2001/sb

Red Planet - Revolution 33 - 2000

Red Planet shows it can really rock on the group's first full-length, Revolution 33, which was released by Gearhead Records in 2000, but the bandmembers don't always choose to hit it that hard. Sometimes they skip along on a trippy mid-tempo wash of electronic effects and hazy vocals instead. But even the lighter numbers weave spacy moog melodies through a heavy grind of distorted rock guitar, for a poppy sound with a tough edge that recalls Cheap Trick and the Cars. Jeremy Powers' attitude-rich vocals range from a playful sashay to the lazy surfer's drawl of the band's native California, as he sings about girls and music with self-disparaging humor, as in, "Sensual girl, I'm not ready for you," on "Sensual Girl." The numbers that shine are those that rock hardest, like "Satellite Radio," propelled by the rhythm section's pounding momentum, topped with a buzz saw of guitar that wails into a solo with the ferocity of '80s shredders. "Dean Taylor" has a jaded Lou Reed vocal delivery, alternated with a glam singsong and funky guitar solo. Mid-tempo numbers sometimes lose momentum under waves of atmospheric keyboards and effects, but even less distinct songs are spiced up with an international assortment of influences, including blues harmonica on "Drop the Bomb" and a sitar jam on "Be My Yoko." This album is a poppy introduction to the band's later, more sophisticatedly melodic rock & roll, and a good bet for fans of rock that is more dreamy than driven. -AMG



Red Planet - Revolution 33 - 2000/rs
or
Red Planet - Revolution 33 - 2000/sb

The General Store - Local Honey - 2002

Some of pop music's most classic and enduring records -- think Fleetwood Mac's Rumours or, more recently, Beck's Sea Change -- have been good old-fashioned, miserable breakup albums. Local Honey, the debut from the General Store, essentially the moniker for British singer/songwriter Tam Johnstone, fits this mold perfectly. Johnstone, whose father Davey was the longtime guitarist for Elton John, was born in 1970 and spent his childhood years immersed in the easygoing, laid-back vibe of Southern California singer/songwriters and country-tinged acts like the Eagles and Jackson Browne. Local Honey is his attempt to recreate this sound 30 years later -- and, here's the kicker -- it was recorded live to four-track in one prolific week following a bitter breakup. Ouch. But with Local Honey, Johnstone's misery is your joy, since at least his muse didn't leave him. The album is bursting with highlights, from wounded, Eagles-esque country-rock like "Letdown" to more shambolic country-rock like "Airport Breakfast" and soaring, almost Fleetwood Mac-styled pop like on "Coming Down" and gut-wrenching ballads like "Stay." Many will surely be divided on Johnstone's inclusion of a country-fried remake of the Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now" (a nod to his teen years, perhaps?), but it manages to stand as the album's only lighthearted moment even though the song itself is actually really sad. Johnstone's vocals fly a bit too frequently into the "strained falsetto" range, but it's the lone drawback to this fine, gorgeous record, perfect for a rainy Sunday morning and a cup of coffee. -AMG



The General Store - Local Honey - 2002/rs
or
The General Store - Local Honey - 2002/sb