Return of the Bastard

iTunes Review

You don't have to be a surfer or skateboarder to let Return Of The Bastard work its magic on you, but it wouldn't hurt if you were somehow acquainted with the kind of sideways flowing that Tommy Guerrero grew up with. Bastard is a natural and cosmopolitan album boasting a quiver of songs that surf different waters with talented friends. "Calling For Ya!" blends smoky, reverberated, wah-wah, guitar over dubbed out rhythms while samba-funk flavor maker Curumin provides peripheral rhymes. "I Would Go With You" flirts with Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 styled Bosa Nova with percussion played by Alfredo Ortiz of Blackalicious fame. Fellow skate rocker Chuck Treece drums on "Paper Switchblade," giving it a cool and cinematic David Axelrod feel. And Guerrero's guitar treads and traverses different styles and genres, resembling the vintage tones of David Holmes soundtracks one second and then pulling from early Santana the next. When you least expect it he'll pluck an acoustic arpeggio like a '60s folkie, then he'll dip into a sunny and soulful Bill Withers influenced bit, all the while retaining a thread that mirrors the mellow stoke of a California native.