Alejandro Escovedo - Burn Something Beautiful album review

A hurricane that threw half his honeymoon house into the sea added post-traumatic stress disorder to Alejandro Escovedo’s hepatitis C, leading to a year away from music. Peter Buck, wrestling his own postR.E.M. demons, was ready to resume work on this album when Escovedo resurfaced. It fights the jaded sentiment of Buck co-write I Don’t Want To Play Guitar Any More by renewed faith in the instrument, defiantly throwing rock’n’roll shapes and mining rock’n’roll memories. Feedback maestro Buck leads the layers of exultant guitar ideas, such as the T.Rex riffs deep in the mix of Shave The Cat, and they help Escovedo drink deep of his sources to climb back into the light.