Real Animal

by

Alejandro Escovedo

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Escovedo has collaborated with longtime pal Chuck Prophet on the songs here, and come up with a career defining, if not quite desperately divine little record. Here's one that tells the tales, names the names, uplifts, crushes, teases & challenges the listener and simply rocks it's delightful & bedraggled heart out when appropriate.

Chronicling his life as a journeyman in the underground music world, this record is an audio companion to Escovedo's near death experience with Hepatitis C and his phoenix like resurrection to find respect and admiration from his rock n roll idols who've since become peers and friends ( guys like Bruce Springsteen and Ian Hunter). From his formative day's as a young punk at The Golden Bear club in Southern California, to staying alongside Sid & Nancy at the Chelsea Hotel, to his decades of raw road dogging around the world, all the road miles are documented.

Whether you are new to his saga, or recall the down and dirty days with The Nuns or Rank & File with Chip & Tony Kinman of the Dils, there's something for you here. It's a real animal of a rock n roll record in an "American Idle" mall mouse music world that may not realize what that means. Why wait for marching orders from the radio or Paula Abdul and her idiot buddies, just get it and hear for yourself these sad but True Believer stories that are simply something anyone should be able to appreciate.

Former Bowie and T-Rex producer Tony Visconti has called it one of the best thing's he's twiddled the knobs on in years, and I'd simply have to agree. If you are not up for the whole thousand mile musical journey with all it's slow side streets and speed bumps, at the very least download the awe inspiring opening cut "Always A Friend", and treat yourself to a rollicking retro-tastic rave up of a road ready tune.

psst: If ya like that one, and are in a hurry, and wanna skip the beatific balladry, here's a couple of the other ripping rockers worth checking out "9. Real As An Animal" "12. Chip N Tony"

I love Escovedo, but i love him because on his best work he kinda forces his ego to submit to the music he makes. On this release he does the exact opposite: it's all about, "Hey, did i mention i was at the Chelsea Hotel with Sid & Nancy? Hey, look at me, i was there when it mattered, baby, i'm an icon now!" This not only makes me cringe, it makes me sad. Listen to 'A Man Under the Influence' and listen to the songcraft of a song like Rhapsody, or the wounded pride of Don't Need You, or even the tender remembrance of Rosalie. Those are songs where the artist is simply the vehicle, it's the SONG that's the star. Now on Real Animal we get this glammed-up version of a mythologized NYC rocker, prowling the streets & giving us a blow-by-blow of how cool he is. Is that really the Escovedo we want to hear? The self-aggrandizing lout? I was a little concerned that his previous release ('The Boxing Mirror') was a bit on the indulgent side, but if this blustery, shallow 'rock' is the alternative i think i'd rather hear Boxing Mirror. Don't get me wrong, i hope this one moves a million units and he ends up on Dubya's iPod again (some of us haven't forgotten!), but apart from Sister Lost Soul (which really is 1 helluva song) the rest is the sort of uncomfortably self-absorbed fluff that might suit a character like Morrissey but is as unappealing on Escovedo as clown shoes and a bowtie.