Lifeboats And Follies

Personnel: Tommy Guerrero (vocals, guitar, melodica, keyboards, upright bass, electric bass, percussion); Monte Vallier (melodica); Money Mark (keyboards); Matt Rodriguez (congas, bongos). It seems Tommy Guerrero may never radically change his style: heavily laid-back instrumental rock that echoes early-'70s maestros as varied as Shuggie Otis and Jackie Mittoo (funk and rocksteady being his clearest influences), and evokes only the most carefree, summery urban landscapes. Given how rarely any artist decides to travel these paths, music fans should hope that Guerrero simply keeps adding only slight variations to this sound. Fortunately, Lifeboats and Follies is exactly the slight variation that listeners need, both to keep expectations high and curiosity rampant. Although he's changed little about his lineup or his primary music-making aims from Return of the Bastard to this record, Lifeboats and Follies has a different style and feel than Guerrero has produced in the past. Although his material is still textured and patchworked, and still seems to be the invisible soundtrack for some lazy, back-alley afternoon, notes of tension and melancholia -- ably transmitted by Guerrero and Monte Vallier's melodica as well as Marc Capelle's heavily echoed trumpet -- give Lifeboats and Follies the feel of an Ennio Morricone score as much as a Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet record. - AllMusicGuide Product Description 2011 album from the musician and professional skateboarder. Raised on the colorful and gritty streets of San Francisco and steeped in the dark brew of a perfect cultural storm where skateboarding, music and art smashed right into each other, More than a decade tirelessly working his craft has passed since Guerrero's first release, and Lifeboats & Follies is his most fully realized sonic collage by far. The tide of groove remains, but is complemented by an expanded quiver of instruments and sounds, a level of skill cinematic in scope, and a richer, more muscular tone and greater depth of emotion. The soup has been thickened, the fire is smoldering, and Guerrero is sweating it out all night, every night.