How will this wolf survive? By releasing a rocking-good solo album for fans with a ferocious appetite for more of the same. It's difficult to think about Cesar Rosas without recalling his faithful service as the guitar player, and sometime singer and songwriter for the East L.A. band Los Lobos (he's the shorter fellow sporting the shades in most of the band's photos). No matter, Soul Disguise suggests that he hasn't strayed too far from his cozy den.
Los Lobos has always been one of the most underrated and best kept secrets in rock and roll. As the most guileless member of the band, Rosas wrote and sang some of the band's finest, most straight-forward rock numbers, such as "Don't Worry Baby," "Little Japan," and "Set Me Free (Rosa Lee)." Soul Disguise is packed with such songs: straight-forward, raw rock and roll stripped of pretense and bone-rattling to the core. In fact, if you've been fortunate enough to follow Los Lobos over the years and didn't care as much for their creative and eclectic turns in albums like Kiko (1992) and Colossal Head (1996), Rosas's Soul Disguise is a lot more like a return to The Neighborhood (1990) and By the Light of the Moon (1986).
The songs themselves are delivered in an assortment of speeds and flavors, including Tex-Mex- Cal rock, R&B/soul, and bluesy roots-rock. This vast variety keeps things shaking right along, whether it's on love songs like "Struck," and "Treat Me Right," or the sweltering cover of Ike Turner's "You've Got to Lose." As he did on La Pistola y El Corazon, Rosas also takes a trip south-of-the-border with the peppy norteño "Adios Mi Vida" and the original "Angelito" both sung in Spanish. The most exciting, accessible cuts are those where he just cuts lose and rocks out, such as "Little Heaven," "Shack and Shambles," and the title track.
An overall upbeat vibe conveys Rosas's incurable case of the "happies" while working on his solo project. The result is a fun, frolicsome album that inspires a profound sense of utter joy as much as it does air-guitar action. Although there is nothing particularly comic about the material per se, nearly every song is so joyfully delivered that they serve as challenges not to break out into a silly grin. Undoubtedly, his love and gratitude to both God and family has inspired his contented peace of mind and playful soul, and Soul Disguise is raw rock and roll that will lift your spirits.
Steven S. Baldwin 9/5/99
You can order a copy here