Cruzados - She's Automatic (2022) [Hi-Res]

With all the grit, guts & determination of The Del-Lords, Los Lobos, Tito & Tarantula, & The Beat Farmers – LA’s The Cruzados return with more style, verve & muscle than they had on their earlier post-punk Latin-inflected major-label rock LPs. And those collections sizzled. Tito Larriva was a founding member back in 1985 & now plays out of Austin, TX with his band. So, the lead vocal responsibility has fallen to the capable blues-grizzled powerhouse of Ron Young.

The new release, featuring 11 songs written or co-written by Tony Marsico, the bassist and co-writer for the Cruzados and a member of the band’s punk-era precursor the Plugz.

The album is a live, hot, no-nonsense collection of hard-hitting rockers on which Marsico is joined by the members of his ’80s L.A. contemporaries Little Caesar. The set’s glittering group of guest musicians includes a host of noted L.A. punk vets, including John Doe (X), Dave Alvin (the Blasters), David Hidalgo and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and Melanie Vannem (the Muffs, the Pandoras).

The Cruzados attracted national attention in the ’80s with their stormy, Latin-inflected brand of post-punk hard rock. Signed to Clive Davis’ Arista Records, the quartet issued two albums, Cruzados (1985) and After Dark (1987). They also made a high-profile screen appearance in the 1989 cult classic Road House. However, familiar rock ’n’ roll pressures capsized the band in 1991; guitarist Marshall Rohner died in 2005, and drummer Chalo “Charlie” Quintana died in 2018.

In the intervening years, Marsico worked on the debut album by Plugz and Cruzados singer-guitarist Tito Larriva’s band Tarantula, today based in Austin. He also carved out a notable career as a top session musician and touring sideman with such artists as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Roger Daltrey, Marianne Faithfull, and Willie Nelson. The bassist’s studio and road stories are collected in two books, Late Nights With Bob Dylan (2009) and I’m Just Here for the Gig! (2020).

With the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and the enforced solitude that followed, Marsico began to contemplate a new project under the Cruzados handle. It didn’t take long for Marsico to decide on the right musicians to carry on the Cruzados’ legacy in the studio: He turned to singer Ron Young and guitarists Loren Molinare and Mark Tremalgia of Little Caesar, who were also active on the L.A. scene in the late ’80s as a Geffen Records act. The core lineup was completed by drummer Rob Klonel, who has collaborated with Little Caesar in recent years.

She’s Automatic is both a forceful continuation of the Cruzados’ sound and an ardent homage to the work they began more than three decades ago.

Ron Young, vocals
Tony Marsico, bass
Loren Molinare, guitar
Mark Tremalgia, guitar
Rob Klonel, drums
Guests:
John Doe (X)
Dave Alvin (The Blasters)
David Hildago and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos)
Gia Ciambotti (Bruce Springsteen)
Melanie Vammen (The Muffs,The Pandoras)
Greg Kuehn (TSOL)
Jimmy Z (Rod Stewart)
Buck Johnson (Aerosmith)

Produced by Bruce Witkin