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Caddies Stretch On new album, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs depart from ska punk to focus on tradition By David Espinoza WITHOUT QUESTION, this has been a good year for Latin rock. All the big hitters (with the exception of Maldita Vecindad and Colombia's Aterciopelados), including Jaguares, Café Tacuba, Molotov and most recently Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, have released superb albums. For Argentina's eight-member Cadillacs, this is just business as usual. Only last year, the veterans of rock en español (before people knew what to call it) won a Grammy in the new category Best Latin Rock/Alternative Record for their Fabulosos Calavera album. Many within the Latin rock community saw the award as well deserved because the Caddies have been making music since the '80s and hail from a country whose rock & roll roots go deeper than those of any other Latin American country. It also might have helped that Los Cadillacs have been one of the more successful crossover bands and were featured on the Gross Point Blank soundtrack. The Caddies' latest effort, La Marcha del Golazo Solitario, marks a departure from their two-tone era frenetic ska-punk stylings. It sounds like nothing they've done before. To be sure, the 16 songs are all still pure, 100 percent Cadillacs with their signature amalgamation of reggae and Latin rhythms, Italian- and Spanish-influenced vocals, and sublime instrumentation. On this album, though, the Caddies focus more on traditional Latin-based music, playing a bit of samba and salsa, all extremely well, I might add. The other major influences evident on La Marcha are '70s jazz, funk and psychedelic rock--lending evidence to the speculation that the guys must have been listening to a lot of Steely Dan and Deep Purple when they recorded this album. La Marcha flows from deliciously sung love songs to indigenous dance rhythms, with the occasional haunting Oingo Boingo-esque romp, like "Los Condenaditos" and "Cebolla, el nadador." The reggae and ska influences still pop up from time to time, especially on the track "El baile de la mar," on which the band seems at home with the rock-steady beats. On the title track, a play on futbol-speak, the band features guest musicians and friends from Fishbone, who also all sang together on last year's Red Hot and Latin compilation. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]