Aftermath: Tremoloco at Under the Volcano

By William Michael Smith Thu., Jul. 23 2009 at 5:09 PM

Categories: Live Shots, Lonesome Onry and Mean

Photos by Vera Mitchell

Los Angeles roots band Tremoloco brought Doug Sahm-type Mexican soul to an enthusiastic audience Wednesday night at Under the Volcano. After warming up with a brand-new song called "Old Man," the band sucked the eager crowd in with a stellar country version of Warren Zevon's "Carmelita," and it was all fun and games after that as they worked through last year's release Dulcinea.

The biggest surprise of the evening was an L.A. vato-billy version of Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited."

Guitarists Bob Robles and Mike Tovar tore it up all night. Robles' chops are absolutely jaw-dropping; think Dave Alvin ability. Another pleasant surprise was Conrad Lozano's son Jason replacing Los Lobos drummer Cougar Estrada in the lineup.

Lozano proved himself more than adept at keeping time on everything from honky-tonk to cumbias.

These guys should be coming to town more often. Their kind of jumbled-up Doug Sahm roots thing just works here.

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