PLOWMAN
Sweet (Pinche Gringo)
Since the alternative explosion of the early Nineties few things
have been worse off than good old hard rock. Remember when you didn’t need
three suitcases worth of emotional baggage to make rock music, when all you had
to do was plug in, turn up, and wail? Plowman does, and Sweet won’t
disappoint those who are looking for a little old-fashioned, angst-free (if
watered down) fist-pumping, FM stereo rock. – Chris Gray
THE BRINK
Into the Precipice
Into the Precipice sounds like that background music to
one of those SOS shows on cable access in which an earthy, folkie couple play
to seven or eight people (including toddlers) while the camera pans down to the
fecal matter floating invisibly atop Barton Springs. Is it the intoxicating
green of the lake or the chill of the Springs that fools people into thinking
the general public wants to hear their living room tinkerings? The Brink has
given it the ol’ Austin try, and by god, that’s how it sounds.
– Mindy LaBernz
JAGUAR SUN
As befits something this similar to the Counting Crows, El Paso’s Jaguar Sun
has a nice grasp on vivid vocals, clean rhythms, and lyrical mysticism – more
than enough to be entirely listenable, and yet just short of anything
memorable. – Andy Langer
LARA & REYES
Guitarras Hermanas (Higher Octave Music)
With a modest dash of palmas, percussion, and “programming,” San Antonio
guitarists Sergio Lara and Joe Reyes do a set in the manner of Lucia &
McLaughlin. This is inspiring work. These guys insert, tack on, spot weld, and
lash together guitar styles in a gratefully un-seamless work, reserving only
two selections for standards before going to market and shopping guitar styles
from Spain, the Mediterranean, and Mexico – there’s even whiff of metal. A
first-rate recording.
– Stephen McGuire “Bonus Tracks” reviews all local and Texas-based
releases commercially
available. Send to: “Bonus Tracks,”
The Austin Chronicle, PO
Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765.
This article appears in October 6 • 1995 and October 6 • 1995 (Cover).