Straightforward, Straight-From-Texas Rock – The New York Times Reviews “Street Songs of Love”

Alejandro Escovedo’s “Street Songs of Love” lives up to the direct monosyllables of its title, then transcends them. It’s a set of 12 midtempo, clear-cut, guitar-driven songs and a closing instrumental, usually with just three or four chords, in the style that was once mainstream and is now called classic rock. All the lyrics have something to do with love, as Mr. Escovedo sings and shouts, in his thick, earthy voice, about lust, devotion, jealousy, obsession, parental affection and higher purpose. “You gotta have faith in the one you love/You gotta have faith in the mystery above,” he hollers in “Faith,” with one of his fans, Bruce Springsteen, belting alongside him.

Mr. Escovedo, a longtime local hero in Austin, Tex., and his songwriting partner, Chuck Prophet, stick to the structural basics that have been the through-line of Mr. Escovedo’s music since he was a punk-rocker in the 1970s, even as he has dipped into hard-rock, alt-country, Tex-Mex, folk-rock and string quartets. “Street Songs of Love” has a little of them all, strings excepted, as it juxtaposes hard-riffing rockers — “Tender Heart” socks the tom-toms, cranks up the fuzztone and pounds a piano — and ballads like “Fall Apart With You,” which vows “All I want is to fall apart with you” over a girl-group bolero beat and women singing la-las.

The producer Tony Visconti, who honed David Bowie’s most durable albums, relies on the sinew of Mr. Escovedo and his band — two guitars, bass and drums — augmented with handclaps here, soul-style backup vocals there. Yet in this staunchly straightforward music, each song takes some memorable leap.

Lyrics that start out routine turn incisive and surreal. “Poured the poison, drank a toast to health,” Mr. Escovedo sings in “Undesired,” an anthem about love found and betrayed. In “This Bed Is Getting Crowded,” over minor chords hinting at Tom Petty, he wonders, “Am I here with you, are you here with me?/Or are we both here with him?”

“Street Songs” envisions a girl “Dancing on a beachland night/Movin’ for money on some bad advice” as a slinky bass line implies every shimmy. Mr. Escovedo is kindly in “Down in the Bowery,” a song to his teenage musician son that has Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople as a guest. And he’s elemental in the galloping garage-rock of “Silver Cloud,” shouting, “I’m a fool for your love — come on, fool me!” and then wrenching guitar chords off the beat to joust with his lead guitarist, David Pulkingham. In song after song Mr. Pulkingham’s subtle variations provide a lift; he makes “Tula,” which could have been a standard one-chord Texas boogie, a phantasmagoria of funk, blues and Celtic modality, abetted by Hector Muñoz’s percussion and someone hooting jungle birdcalls.

In another, less fragmented pop era, this would be the album of thoughtful but radio-ready love songs to finally get Mr. Escovedo the big national audience he deserves. Could it happen now?

By Jon Pareles – The New York Times.  Published July 4, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/arts/music/05choice.html?_r=1