Minneapolis and Valencia are not so far apart. An invisible line unites them. And in it echoes of Neil Young, the Rolling Stones and all their offspring can be found. They are conjured by The Jayhawks, emblem of the best North American rock of the last decades, and Los Zigarros, standards of the best current rock in Spanish.
The brothers Ovidi and Álvaro Tormo are apostles of rock and roll without trap or cardboard. The kind that doesn't use additives or colorings. The kind that boasts of being heirs of Tequila, Burning, Los Rodríguez, M Clan or Pereza. No wonder they opened for AC/DC when they were Los Perros del Boogie and the Rolling Stones when they were already Los Zigarros. For their fourth album, the remarkable "Acantilados" (2023), the Valencian quartet has changed Carlos Raya for Leiva in production, they have given more prominence to keyboards and have delved into some funk and even "disco" detours, but basically they remain faithful to the infectious guitar riffs, the addictive choruses and the texts of an overflowing honesty.
The secret of the best American roots rock is still in safekeeping. It is in the hands of Gary Louris and his band. The Jayhawks' songs deliver the redemptive power of undisputed classics. A creative universe capable of cauterizing any wound thanks to their way of transforming the legacy of The Byrds, Neil Young, The Band or Big Star into a new and indelible songbook. Authentic masterpieces like "Hollywood Town Hall" (1992), "Tomorrow The Green Grass" (1995), "Rainy Day Music" (2003) or "Mockingbird Time" (2011) explain the legend of a band that should have been, popularly, as great as Wilco.
