DAVID LINDLEY

El Rayo-X

[Asylum 5E-524]

Infectious. Rhythmic. Humorous. Almost bizarre. As a friend said, how can anyone not like an album that is this much fun?

“Fun,” scoffs the skeptic, “music has not been ‘fun’ since the demise of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs and the Trashmen. ‘Louie, Louie’ was fun. Any musical era which gives us joy Division is not fun,” he rants...

However, says I, for one thing, joy Division doesn’t count (they’re from a completely foreign country); for another, shut up and listen to the record; and for a third, SS&P and the Trashmen are probably two of David Lindley’s favorite groups. You want fun? How about an album where Lindley plays about 10 instruments and sings songs in three languages; one which blew up a studio control board during the recording session, another with the line: “Sittin’ at the laundromat trying to keep clean/25 women arrive on the scene/Ain’t no way, baby…” and most of which are done up in Lindley’s patented “Topanga Canyon reggae,” containing not one mention of Jah, Rastafarians or ganja?

El Rayo-X is David Lindley’s first album as a leader after putting in around 15 years of road and studio work for the likes of Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Ry Cooder; and without question, the record was worth the wait. On it, Lindley has fused his R&B, rock and folk roots with the off-rhythms and percussive edginess of reggae, and come up with music that is unique, eclectic, and as enchanting as any you will hear this year.

Lindley’s unrivaled sense of melody and what’s right is in top shape on Rayo, as is his voice. And whereas it would be easy to slip into blatant hero-worship by examining the virtues of every song on the album, I’ll only mention a few (thus slipping into simple semi-hero-worship), to wit:

1) A version of “Bye Bye Love” which makes one think the song should always be done that way.

2) The introduction to “Mercury Blues” which sends anything from a song about someone named Sharona to the showers.

3) The falsetto humor of “Ain’t No Way,”

4) The chunky bass on “Twist and Shout,”

5) “EI Rayo-X’s” Tex-Mex good times and horns (performed by Garth Hudson),

6) The get-down-and-dirty guitar work (rhythm and slide) on “Your Old Lady,” and

7) The haunting, utterly perfect melodies on “Pay the Man.”

For Lindley, each song has its moment, a certain essence he and his band unfailingly capture, crystalize and convey to the listener. No one in recent memory has done that better than he.

Buying and listening to a copy of El Rayo-X will be the best thing you’ll do all week.

-Steve Hurlburt