RetroGod

America’s rich multi-cultural and multi-ethnic musical heritage is beautifully represented on the self-titled Delta Groove label debut from California’s Los Fabulocos. Featuring legendary guitarist Kid Ramos, of Mannish Boys and Fabulous Thunderbirds fame, this Cali-Mex quartet blends rockabilly, rhythm and blues, country, and traditional Spanish and Mexican influences, to paint an ever shifting portrait of vintage rock and roll.

Ramos employs several different instruments on this record, including electric guitar, Spanish guitar, baritone guitar, and most intriguingly, the bajo sexto, a 12-stringed cross between a guitar and a bass, often heard in norteño or conjunto music. The band’s leader and frontman, Jesus Cuevas, is both an appealing vocalist and a skilled accordion player. James Barrios on bass and Mike Molina on drums provide the irresistible, utterly danceable rhythm that backs every one of these tracks.

Displaying an admirable sense of history, Los Fabulocos takes on several well worn classics, spicing them up with a Cali-Mex kick. Ramos delivers his only lead vocal on Johnny Burnette’s rockabilly ballad “Lonesome Tears In My Eyes,” and it is a killer. He draws out every ounce of emotion from the melancholy lyrics. Not since the Crank-Tones 1998 recording has the tune received such a satisfying and powerful treatment. The Rockin’ Sidney composition “You Ain’t Nothin’ But Fine” retains its zydeco core, but also shines with Mexican and rhythm and blues hues. The heart-tugging Lloyd Price number “Just Because” is a swaying masterpiece, thanks to an incredibly touching arrangement and Cuevas’ heartfelt vocal.

The band’s original tunes are also pretty darned amazing. Three of the four members of Los Fabulocos are songwriters, each with their own highly individual voice. Ramos contributes a nifty little instrumental entitled “Burnin’ The Chicken” (aka “Quemando La Gallina”). A sizzling electrified Spanish guitar intro gives way to mad percussion and one incredible, mind blowing maximum-overdrive riff after another. Jesus Cuevas juxtaposes sentimentality with a finger-snappin’ beat on “If You Know.” He underpins this poetically written she-done-me-wrong tale with his flawless squeezebox technique. Cuevas also chimes in with “Day After Day,” a rollicking rhythm and blues ditty that sounds like something the original Yardbirds might have played back in their days as a pumpin’, thumpin’ bar band. On this one, Cuevas actually manages to utilize his accordion as a legitimate blues instrument, making it wail and cry with all the forlorn truth of the finest Delta bluesmen. Bassist James Barrios dazzles with another brilliant musical hybrid, the Tennessee whiskey soaked “You Keep Drinkin’.” The lyrics are pure honky tonk, while the arrangement mixes swinging country and the best of the traditional Mexican styles.

When critics talk about American roots music, this is what they mean. Los Fabulocos is a prime example of the magnificent working class art this immigrant nation can produce.