Label: Self-Released
Rating: 4 Guns
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It’s all right, I don’t mind saying it: I am a Sartre-reading, frites-loving, beret-wearing Francophile. Well, I was, until I heard Los Hollywood.
In the past, my allegiances were clear: I visited France, spoke frequently and thoroughly about the country, and couldn’t get enough Edith Piaf. Now, thanks to the band’s self-titled EP, I’m now jealous of all those kids in high school who took Spanish classes.
The San Diego Latin-rock quartet’s debut EP, created on a wave of buzz including being featured on Telemundo and winning the Myspace Latin Battle of the Bands in 2008, is a perfectly crafted piece of indie pop that, well, happens to be partially in Spanish.
Music in another language, like foreign films, has to appeal not only to aficionados of a genre but must transcend barriers, too, and Los Hollywood manages this and more; this is indeed music to break barriers by.
Usually, music sung in Spanish is played only on Latino stations. But Los Hollywood states the perfect case for why Latino music needs to share the spotlight.
Singer Aide Flores’ voice is a dead-ringer for Gwen Stefani’s, sexy and sultry but flirty, the girl who stares across the bar all night but refuses to give up her phone number. In Spanish-titled pieces like “No Te Aguites,” Flores flits between English and Spanish, but this is no “Spanglish”; she sings in both with equal aplomb. And just to make you a bit more self-conscious about your musical abilities, she plays guitar and bass, too.
There’s a gorgeous mixing of ska and traditional Spanish ballad on “Te Quiero Tanto,” proving that these guys can do more than ape No Doubt. (And honestly, even when they’re doing that, it’s pretty damn entertaining).
Then, just when the guitars get pretty and Flores gets kinda mopey, Los Hollywood kicks into “Gira Gira,” with a beat that sounds like Interpol and a bounce that could get anyone on the dance floor for an impromptu merengue.
These and the EP’s other songs reflect a fine-tuned balance of influences, from the band’s San Diego and Mexico upbringings to their obvious love of uber-bands like the Beatles. Adobo-flavored fish and chips, anyone?
These are beautifully crafted and awesomely executed pieces of music, and even more amazing for their ability to transcend genres and languages.
All the best elements of indie rock are here – punchy drums, a charismatic and actually talented vocalist, and short, no-extra-fat songs – but those of Latin music are here too, in the form of more than a few Spanish lyrics and the celebratory feel Spanish-language music is famous for.
Though the mix of ballads and rockers is a bit disconcerting – one second it’s clubby, the next it’s drowsy – this is the perfect sort of EP, one that showcases the band’s immeasurable talents and range while leaving the listener begging for more.
Like Los Hollywood? Try: No Doubt, Paramore, Garbage
