by the light of the moon (1987) – los lobos: slash records, 1-25523

Blending Mexican roots, blues, r&b, cumbia, rockabilly, mariachi, new wave, and power-pop, Los Lobos managed to carve out a comfortable (if not very large) niche for themselves in the LA music scene of the 80’s.

Like many other bands at that time in LA, Los Lobos developed a loyal following, had support from local radio station KROQ and was a frequent presence in the local club scene. Their breakout third album How Will The Wolf Survive? brought band members David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, and Cesar Rosas notoriety and respect from other musicians both locally and nationally, and the got their songs on soundtracks for multiple hit movies including Colors, La Bamba, Bull Duhram, and Desperado.

The band would see their popularity peak with their title track to the movie La Bamba, but beyond that they would remain yet another band who deserved more than they got. Even though By The Light Of The Moon, their follow-up to Wolf, was critically praised and built on their growing reputation, it wouldn’t prove to be enough. And like so many other talented, energetic, and distinctive bands coming from LA at the time, they found that achieving anything beyond local or cult fame to be next to impossible.

Side 1: One Time One Night Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes Is This All There Is? Prenda Del Alma All I Wanted To Do Was Dance
Side 2: Set Me Free (Rosa Lee) The Hardest Time My Baby’s Gone River Of Fools The Mess We’re In Tears Of God

This is one of the last actual albums I bought new before focusing almost entirely on CD (partially because I was quite enamored with the fidelity and portability of CDs, but mainly because record companies were phasing out vinyl as an option for new material). And it’s an album for which I have some very fond memories.

The songs are all unmistakably Los Lobos. The Mexican-flavored guitars and the ranchero bop of the rhythm are present from the very first note of One Time One Night, a completely stark song about the genuine despair of life during the Reagan-Bush years, all the way through the last fade out of Tears of God, a completely stark song about using faith as a way to escape the genuine despair of life during the Reagan-Bush years.

Now that I think of it, almost all of the songs on this album deal in some way with the genuine despair of life during the Reagan-Bush years. Which, I suppose is kind of fitting for a band made up of people who had to face the genuine despair of both social and political scapegoating based on ethnicity and heritage. It’s sad that 30 years later not all that much has changed.

But I digress. As I was listening to this I was struck by the fact that even though this is now 30 years old, it didn’t sound dated in the same way so many other albums from the mid-late 80’s do. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Los Lobos is a band based in roots, not dependent on whatever musical fad happens to be around at the time. More than that, the lyrics remain as fresh and poignant today as they were back in 1987, and that really matters, because context is important in determining relevance.  And the sad truth is that we are now at a time where we all need some way to deal with the genuine despair of life during the trump years.

Plus ça change, indeed.

Up next: Got a light?