This East L.A. band, which has been produced by Pete Anderson before, is now also on his label, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more seamless disc in their catalogue. That’s because as well as frontmen-guitarists Ruben Guaderrama and Manuel Gonzales can solo, their ensemble work is even more impressive.
“I’ll Never Trust” has airtight construction yet breathes beautifully because of the way the rhythm guitars work with the bass and drums; one emerges organically to solo, then another comes along for a two-guitar rave-up. On “Excuse Me”, which has an underpinning of acoustic and electric guitar, the percussion is so blocky it stands out almost as a lead instrument even though Ruben Gonzalez never solos, while the round, liquid, low-register electric guitar solo, even as it stands out on its own, actually supports that drumming rather than vice-versa.
The Chicano flavorings come through most powerfully on their cumbia reworking of the Beatles’ “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”, the bilingual jump blues of “Ven Mi Vida (Come on Baby)”, and the ’60s barrio soul falsetto of “Next To Me”.
The Blazers remain vibrant contemporary torchbearers for musical hybrids that go back half a century. What they really need now is one breakout song, as opposed to a superb collection like this that expertly customizes roots-rock conventions. But that’s about all they need.