TIJUANA STRIP CLUB
Sparklers and Bottlerockets (Foggydog Records)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

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With a name like Tijuana Strip Club I would have expected something bawdy and loud, maybe like the Black Crowes, but TSC is nothing like that. Mostly sedate and introspective, their music is much more akin to the moody poetry of Leonard Cohen. Indeed the low-register, slightly raspy vocals of TSC's frontman, Randy Cordero, can easily be mistaken for Cohen's and the lyrics of most songs follow that same seen-my-share-of-trials path.

A few of these bottle rockets fizzle, like Cordero is trying a little too hard to be capital-M Meaningful, but most cuts are quite deserving to be called sparklers. My favorite on the CD is "Hapless Suitor" where Gary Myrick contributes some spare but pleasing blues guitar, but I also enjoy the more acoustic-driven songs "Turnstile" and "Natalie."

[Pick this up at CDBaby.]

© 2003 - Rusty Pipes