Rich Hopkins & Luminarios – My Lucky Stars

Tucson’s Rich Hopkins has finally matched the remarkable open-spaces expansiveness that characterized his major-label efforts with the Sidewinders/Sand Rubies. My Lucky Stars has more going for it than just an atmospheric-yet-gritty “desert rock” vibe, however (not the least of which is the elaborate hardback-book format of the limited-edition packaging). Key among the disc’s appeal is the Byrdsian backing vocal harmonies that, wedded to lush acoustic-electric arrangements, amply underscore the melancholic nature of the tunes.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Hopkins disc without a hefty dose of desert rock. “Train Of Love” (not the Neil Young song) throws down sleek surf licks into the dusty arroyo, while “Wildhare-Lordsburg Blues” is a Young/13th Floor Elevators collision of brutal, fiery, tremolo-drenched psychedelia, the best cruncher Hopkins has penned since his Sand Rubies days.

Elsewhere, there’s the Alejandro Escovedo-styled twanger “Walk Away”, a spine-tingling folk-rock number called “Spoiled Milk” brimming with the aforementioned harmonies, and an acoustic ballad, “La Luz”, featuring an angelic harp mingling delicately with Latin guitar picking and a male-female Spanish vocal duet.

But what ultimately makes this disc so satisfying is its unity of sonics and philosophy. If on previous Luminarios records Hopkins sometimes pieced together collections of songs, here he crafts a nuanced, textured album that dwells almost exclusively upon loss — of self, of self-confidence, of that one true love. Heartbreak, it seems, remains a primary color when one paints a masterpiece.