Vallejo
Stereo (VMG)A classic rock swagger has defined Vallejo since day uno. Snaking through the dual guitar throw down of frontman A.J. Vallejo and Heath Clark on both 1998’s Beautiful Life (TVT) and 2000’s Into the New (Epic), it often sounded lifted straight off Señor Santana’s Abraxas LP. With their latest, the independently released Stereo, the Vallejo crew has finally tipped the bottle all the way back and ingested the worm at the bottom. Their influences are now simply their sound, figuratively, not literally as with all young bands. The stone-cold hip shake of opener “Take a Ride” and its slinky, bongoed backup “Downtown” are as self-assured as El Mariachi himself. Funky hummer “Vices” is standard Vallejo, “Rock Americano” forced, but “Answers Inside” commingles a heavy-lidded Latin groove, deft syncopation, and a silver-tongued vocal from A.J. that recalls the glory days of Miami’s unheralded Nuclear Valdez. The bob ‘n’ weave guitars skanking to Alejandro Vallejo’s dance-step drums on KLBJ-sure-thing “Hard Times” add fuel to fuego, while the subtle psychedelic tweaks of instant repeater “So Damn Beautiful” finds Vallejo at its veteran best. Nowhere is this confidence more striking than on the easy-going acoustics of “Wait for Me.” Even formulaic cruncher “Let’s Talk About It” is a winner. There are few missteps on Stereo (“You Are,” “Devils”), and the top-off bonus track, Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio,” is inspired, both in idea and teasingly techy glam-band execution. Bueno!
This article appears in November 29 • 2002.
