You may have heard of Los Lobos, who hail as California's longest-lasting full rock outfit. They're good and all, but their recent Disney cd makes most people reach for one of those airplane barf bags preeeeeetty fast.
But back in 1999, they put out a second album under a side-project pseudonym Latin Playboys (which has to be one of the coolest band names ever. Do you notice that i get fetishistic about names? I can never come up with a cool name!). The legend has it that Dose was recorded entirely with instruments bought from thrift stores, and it shows. The guitars are wonky and out of tune, and the instruments sound terrible; however, since Los Lobos are practically the most talented musicians who have ever walked the face of the earth, the playing is incredibly solid and it comes across as a revelation.
It turned a lot of Lobos fans off since it's a) abrasive as all getout and b) not really a group of songs as much as weird sketches. It almost sounds like an early Ween record, but with a huge Mexican influence. For me, the rough aesthetics plus the Mexican sabor plus the inconsistency makes this one of my favorite early Summer records.
I first heard this at a house party in Knoxville and realized--in an exaggerated epiphany-- that the music i had been listening to was really lame, and that there was tons of incredible music i hadn't discovered yet.
