CD Reviews

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

La Luz del Ritmo
(Nacional)
6.8

Goes well with: War, Soda Stereo, Ozomatli, Kinky

It’s no surprise that Los Fabulosos Cadillacs have remained virtually unknown in even the most adventurous avant-rock circles north of Calexico. Distracted by ’90s rock en español, American audiences have sadly deprived themselves of LFC’s awe-inspiring mix of Zappa-esque rock, ska, punk, calypso, salsa, rumba, rap and funk. Launched in 1985 as an eager but clumsy act, their restless style-jacking peaked with the masterful late-’90s duo of Fabulosos Calaveras and La Marcha del Golazo Solitario, so selling out 50,000-plus-capacity arenas may be the motivation behind reuniting after six years.

A mish-mash of re-jiggered b-sides and inspired pub-rock covers, La Luz del Ritmo adequately revives their still-dazzling musicianship but fails to reignite their organic spark. Still, there are a couple eclectic flints, like the title track’s over-driven funk and “Malbicho,” a percussive marriage of War and Edwin Starr sampling Mixmaster Mike. Plus, bilingual covers of The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and Ian Dury’s “Wake Up and Make Love With Me” are oddly respectful, rump-shaking gems. But another half of the disc just sounds like smugly mailed-in recitals. Thankfully, their live sets are still universally praised. Here’s to hoping this studio collection is just a scrimmage before the big game.

Or, the Whale

Light Poles and Pines
(Seany)
3.6

Goes well with: The Everybodyfields, She & Him, Oakley Hall

If I’m Ahab, then my musical equivalent to a white whale would be finding an alt-country album that moves me as much as Whiskeytown’s Stranger’s Almanac or Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. So, to stay with the analogy, San Francisco septet Or, the Whale is my faulty harpoon, my not-so-perfect storm, one of the craptacular indie-grass bands keeping me from falling into my ocean grave.

Light Poles and Pines is a re-release of the band’s 2007 debut, which is a safe bet in that the album sounds disingenuously timeless, as if it could have been released by any trend-hopping band at any moment in the last five decades. “Saint Bernard” sounds like Coldplay doing a Hank Williams cover (complete with Gwenyth Paltrow on backing vocals), while “Rope Don’t Break” is cheesy Alison Krauss balladry at its worst. And any band from California that uses southernisms like “fixin’” might as well renew its membership in the poser club. You’re from San Francisco Bay, not Pensacola Bay!

What Or, the Whale represent is the douche-ification of one of the few authentic music genres left. Sure, Light Poles might be purdy, but it ain’t real, and it comes off like a facsimile marketed toward scenesters who latch on to any band with a beard and a banjo.

Or, the Whale play Saturday, March 14, at The Kensington Club

Asobi Seksu

Hush
(Polyvinyl)
7.1

Goes well with: Sonic Youth, Cibo Matto, Pizzicato Five

With a name like Asobi Seksu, you wouldn’t be too far off to assume the band is another Japanese import obsessed with American pop textures and the indie-rock underground. But they’re actually based in New York, having more in common with the art and noise-punk of Sonic Youth than confectionary pleasures like Puffy Ami Yumi.

By the halfway point of Hush, you’ll really hear the domestic connections. Big-drum build-ups, reverb-layered freak-outs and almost fully buried vocals rule the day, and they don’t always play to their strengths, since vocalist/keyboardist Yuki Chikudate is a solid frontwoman when singing comfortably in her register. She mixes Japanese and English lyrics that are beautifully juxtaposed against the often-disturbing minor chords and percussive lurching.

Touring and a new lineup has emboldened the band’s main musical mind, guitarist James Hanna. In addition to the many effects boxes and samplers required for their live set, Hanna has thrown a Theremin into the mix on songs like “Familiar Light” and “Gliss,” which sounds like a Smashing Pumpkins-meets-Sonic Youth séance. It’s no accident and bodes well for those adventurous enough to check out the live version of what in Japanese is slang for “kinky sex.”