CRUZADOS CONTROL

“CRUZADOS.” Cruzados. Arista. Yer basic AOR aquatic zip-gun boogie-woogie, “Motorcycle Girl,” is getting all the airplay, but at least three tracks on Cruzados’ first album are more interesting, original and representative of the El Lay quartet’s meat ‘n’ tortillas approach.

The shimmering chimera of “Just Like Roses,” the Love Jones en estino Latino of “Flor De Mal” and--especially--the wide-screen epic sweeping sarcasm of “Hangin’ Out in California” spotlighting Steven Hufsteter’s surf ‘n’ spaghetti Western six-string stylisms are all XLNT examples of Cruzados’ sounds of tamale, today. It’s a twang thang.

Making melodic hard rock this good ain’t easy, though, and despite the left-right combination punch of drummer Chalo Quintana and bassist Tony Marsico, the rest of the record resembles a seamless tapestry of standard-issue guitar licks. Having an unusually expressive vocalist in Tito Larriva helps, as does Rodney Mills’ spit-shine production job. But too often the arrangements are stronger than the tunes themselves, and songs begin to sound suspiciously similar on the sixth or seventh listen.

Ah well, one person’s monotony is another person’s mesmerism, and this disc still kicks, say, the Del Fuegos all the way back to Beantown. Quieres estar Cruzado?