Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Before the age of Ricky Martin, Buena Vista Social Club and a gradual awareness that not all that is commercially viable has to be sung in English or produced north of the Rio Grande, the amount of rock en Espagnol that hit North American radar was pretty much limited to Los Lobos and their side projects. It has been a long time coming, but Argentinean veterans Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are finally getting their due, although the sheer breadth and quality of La Marcha del Golazo Solitario may have had a lot to do with that. From tracks like "C.J." — which I would almost swear is a long-overdue collaboration between Los Lobos and some Combustible Edison space age cocktail swizzle — to greasier, grunting rock to a whole spectrum of clave beats cavorting with rock guitars, Los Fabulosos play the sort of rock and roll without boundaries that one often hears people speculating about, but that one rarely actually hears. After the initial jarring ride from song to wildly differing song, La Marcha del Golazo Solitario coheres into sense and shows the virtues of hearing and playing rock in different ways.