Dose

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Ever since "Kiko", Los Lobos' shimmering cinematic experiment that was released in 1992, one gets a sense of their commitment and clarity of vision. Arguably one of the best bands ever to come out of Los Angeles, they survive with values intact. One of the ways they have managed to do this is through their varied and various side projects. They made a children's album (Papa's Dream), put out a follow-up to "Kiko" (Colossal Head), a soundtrack (Desperado), plus a solo record from guitarist Cesar Rosas and three other "abstracts": Latin Playboys, Los Super Seven and houndog. "Dose" is a second effort from Los Lobos' guitarist and drummer David Hidalgo and Louie Perez, plus the production team of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake on keyboards and bass. Like its predecessor, "Dose" is a swirling, heady and eclectic blend of bottom-heavy low-rider funk, bluesy psychedelia, graceful Middle-Eastern melodic arcs and lots of delicious lo-fi studio processing. And the songs? Songs? Well, er, they're more like non-linear Spanglish tone poems. That 's fine; one doesn't have to ascribe to Buddhist philosophy to take advantage of the precept, "First thought, best thought". Latin Playboys have taken this to heart, and have made it a working part of their modus operandi. Here's hoping that they will have taken their trust of intuition into the Los Lobos album that's coming out in July.