Latin Playboys (album)

Latin Playboys
Studio album by Latin Playboys
Released	March 8, 1994
Studio	Big Stink Studios, Hercules, CA & at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood
Genre	Experimental rock Chicano rock Latin rock Tex-Mex blues rock
Length	37:09
Label	Slash/Warner Bros.
Producer	Latin Playboys
Latin Playboys chronology
Latin Playboys (1994) Dose (1999)

Latin Playboys is the debut album by the experimental rock band Latin Playboys, released on March 8, 1994 through Slash/Warner Bros. Records.

Production

Latin Playboys was recorded in a short time and recorded almost entirely on a four-track tape machine. The band divided the songwriting duties into stages with David Hidalgo preparing the musical sketches of each song, which were passed to Louie Pérez, who added lyrics and rhythms. Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake further flowered the songs with samples and other instrumentation. ^[1]

Composition

Latin Playboys has been defined as a fusion of R&B, tejano music, rock, soul, blues, ^[1] garage rock, mariachi, and progressive jazz. ^[2] The reviewer for Chicago Tribune , Mark Caro, considered the album to be "clearly a side project", characterizing the compositions as aren't really "structured pop songs as much as little explorations guided by a compass operating under mysterious forces". Caro described these forces as fascinating, evocative and "even strangely sensual". ^[3]

Caro compared the "frightening backdrop of rushing pulse beats" of the song "Crayon Sun" to the Velvet Underground's "Heroin". ^[3] The album opener, "Viva la Raza", was compared to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts as if it was imagined by Astor Piazzolla. ^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Chicago Tribune	[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A+ [5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ [6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[8]
Rolling Stone	[1]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10 [9]

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice named the album the best release of 1994 ^[10] and described it as "impressionistic fragments coalescing into a self-sustaining aural counterreality." ^[5] Writing for The A.V. Club , Joshua Klein called the album a "casual masterpiece" consisting of "found sounds, low-fidelity recording techniques, distorted drum loops, deep-dungeon blues, fragmented guitar parts, and some gorgeous songs." ^[11] In his AllMusic review, Richie Unterberger stated that the album's "lyrics and song structures are almost impressionistic in tone, creating an effect similar to listening to your car radio as stations drift in and out of reach while you drive along the Mexican border." ^[4] Christgau later named it among his 10 best albums from the 1990s. ^[12]

Mark Caro, summarizing his listening experience for Chicago Tribune , described it as a journey with an undetermined destination, "yet the journey somehow makes sense in the end". ^[3] The Rolling Stone reviewer thought it showcased "new musical ideas as possibilities", realized during the recording sessions with technical limitations and minimal edits—"the music is fresh and open, unconcerned with the refinement of aesthetic closure". ^[1]

Track listing

All songs written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez.

1. "Viva la Raza" – 2:45
2. "Ten Believers" – 3:17
3. "Chinese Surprize" – 3:07
4. "Mira!" – 1:22
5. "Manifold de Amour" – 2:02
6. "New Zandu" – 3:11
7. "Rudy's Party" – 2:28
8. "If" – 1:41
9. "Same Brown Earth" – 3:45
10. "Lagoon" – 2:24
11. "Gone" – 2:51
12. "Crayon Sun" – 3:04
13. "Pink Steps" – 2:07
14. "Forever Night Shade Mary" – 3:05

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes:

• Latin Playboys (David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Mitchell Froom, and Tchad Blake) – recording, engineering, mixing, producering
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• John Paterno – mixing

References

1. Jurek, Thom (June 16, 1994). "The Latin Playboys: Latin Playboys". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
2. Hall, Steve (18 Apr 1994). "Latin Playboys 'Latin Playboys'". The Indianapolis Star. p. D5.
3. Caro, Mark (April 7, 1994). "Latin Playboys: Latin Playboys (Slash)". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved May 31, 2020.
4. Unterberger, Richie. "Latin Playboys – Latin Playboys". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
5. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Latin Playboys: Latin Playboys". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN   0-312-24560-2. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
6. Sinclair, Tom (March 18, 1994). "Latin Playboys". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
7. Hochman, Steve (March 27, 1994). "'Playboys': A Twist on Los Lobos". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 31, 2020.
8. Moon, Tom (March 27, 1994). "Latin Playboys: Latin Playboys (Slash)". The Philadelphia Inquirer .
9. Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Los Lobos". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 228–29. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
10. "The Robert Christgau List (1994)". Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
11. "Latin Playboys: Dose". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on July 8, 2013.
12. Christgau, Robert (May 19, 2021). "Xgau Sez: May, 2021". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.