Vernon Morning Star
By Dean Gordon-Smith – Vernon Morning Star
Published: September 04, 2008 6:00 PM
Updated: September 04, 2008 6:50 PM
Early on in their career, Los Lonely Boys (Henry, JoJo and Ringo Garza) was over-simply lumped with the tag of being a Tex-Mex mix of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Santana.
Although worse comparisons could be made, that one seems to be short-sighted as the Boys favour material and arrangements that stray a fair distance from the blues/rock standard of Vaughan clones and the wailing Latin rock percussion of Santana acolytes.
Muted traces of Santana can be heard in their work here on Staying With Me, a sweet melodic rock ballad, and rural folk sounds also appear. The same goes for Loving You Always.
A strong strain of melodic pop runs through Forgiven – a characteristic responsible for their earlier hit, Heaven. The band tempers this with jaunty and earthy ensemble grooving that’s blessed with tasteful chops in abundance. Producer Steve Jordan (John Mayer, Keith Richards) and the group use these wisely, which result in some subtly sophisticated arrangements.
The pop aspect of the Boys is due to their easy-sounding, three-part vocal harmonies. This is an interesting phenomenon sometimes seen in groups with singing siblings. This layered sound is all over Forgiven, as is the shifting lead vocal duty.
A telling sign of a solid recording can be its seemingly speedy play time and Forgiven definitely doesn’t linger over long in a disc player. An impression is left of a group that is listening for and exploring different textures and moods within their music.
The Boys take their sound far beyond the confines that are usually inhabited by blues/rock trios and you can hear different influences filtering through (jazz, folk, R&B) that are given a spirited jolt of fire from the group.