The new Los Fabulocos featuring Kid Ramos record is bound to get reviewers scrambling for their multi-cultural musical thesaurus to try and figure out what they are listening to. Just relax, put down your Spanish–English dictionary and listen to the plaintive, impassioned vocals of Jesus "Jesse" Cuevas. Listen to his soulful accordion and shake it to the swingin’ rhythm section of bassist James Barrios and drummer Mike Molina. Groove to the reverb drenched guitar of David “Kid” Ramos. It’s only rock & roll, or is it blues, or rockabilly. It doesn’t matter. I like it. As Louis Armstrong once said, “There are only two kinds of music, the good kind and the other kind.” The album is definitely the former and not the latter.

Maybe the album's producer, Jeff Scott Fleenor put it best when I asked him if he felt uncomfortable working outside his more traditional blues comfort zone. “Maybe at first but when the band started to lay down the tracks, I realized good music is simply good music. The same rules apply.”

As I listened to the album for the first time I thought to myself, I am a gringo who can’t even roll my “Rs” when I say the word “gringo”. So where do I get off reviewing the new album by a group of guys whose last names are Cuevas, Ramos, Barrios and Molina? I don’t know. Where do they get off singing a Little Richard song in Spanish? I’ll tell you where, anywhere we damn well please, were Americans. This new Los Fabulocos album is a big fat helping of American roots music that is as American as baseball, apple empanada, and a closed Chevrolet assembly plant.

Dos seems to be an operative theme to this album. Not only is it the band's second album, it has been two years since their self titled debut and it took these pros only two days to track Dos in the studio.

Like any great roots music record, Los Fabulocos pulls influences from their diverse
background in music. What makes this record special is that they do it all with a true band sound. It isn’t a genre hopping excursion or a compilation of musical styles either. It is a true fusion of the different elements that make up their roots. They morph it into a sound all their own. Dos harkens back to a time when music had its own regional flavor. The flavor of Dos is loaded with tasty, southwestern ingredients, all cultivated north of the border.

Eight of the album's twelve tracks are Los Fabulocos originals. The lion's share were written by the band's vocalist and accordion player Jesus Cuevas. Cuevas,along with the band’s drummer and resident artist Mike Molina played together in the popular Los Angeles area based band, the Blazers. It is Molina’s Dia de los Muertos artwork that graces the album’s cover and lets you know you are in for music that is fun but steeped in tradition.

The entire album could be played note for note and make for one swingin’ dance party. The album’s ballads give you a chance to catch your breath and slow dance. The song “I Never Thought” is a Cuevas original that sounds like a classic 50’s R&B ballad. Guest musicians on this song include former Blazer Manny Gonzales on background vocals and L.A. based tenor sax player Ron Dziubla.

On the song "Los Chucos Suaves", the band takes on an old Lalo Guerrero number that harkens back to the Pachuco swing days of the 1940s and 50s.

The tune entitled “The Coffee Song”, written by the band's bassist James Barrios, has Cuevas singing “It is that smell of fresh brewed coffee on a lonely Sunday morning that makes my heart yearn for you” With references to Buck, Johnny and Willie it is also Ramos’ slide that helps to drive this song out of town on a dusty road just outside of Bakersfield.

James Barrios told me recently that everything this band does is in the moment. "We didn’t intentionally make a record that was so musicaly diverse. That is just who we are. 99% of the time we don’t even have a set list on stage. We play what feels right to us and what is right for the audience."

That audience will include some upcoming dates this month in Texas including Austin’s Continental Club and New Braunfel’s fabled Gruene Hall. “We love playing in Texas.” Barrios noted. “People there really love music. We have played Gruene Hall before. It is a big place but it has a real warm feel to it. We are really looking forward to it.” From there the band winds up its three day, three city, three show Texas shuffle for a performance at the Southwest School of Arts and Crafts in San Antonio.

The band returns to California for dates throughout the month of April and May. Check their link on this site for all their upcoming performances.

As I was listening to the new album Dos again, I got towards the end of the record which in a short time has become very familiar to me. They do their wonderful take on an old rocker by Little Richard, Keep a Knockin’. From the moment I heard Ramos’ thick opening guitar riff, I realized this song may represent a metaphor for Los Fabulocos. These guys aren’t going anywhere. They are going to keep knocking at the door. You might as well let them in. You’ll be glad you did.

- David Mac