Soul Food Taqueria

Tommy Guerrero may be better known in the world of skateboarding than in music. Born in San Francisco, Guerrero joined the skateboard company Powell Peralta in 1985 and became one of the original members of "the Bones Brigade" — a legendary team of skateboarders. Always interested in music, Guerrero was a fan of the high-energy punk music that surrounded the early-'80s skate scene. Since, Guerrero has become an accomplished bassist and guitarist with influences as diverse as John Coltrane, Latin Playboys, and Tortoise. Guerrero released his debut album, Loose Grooves and Bastard Blues, in 1998 on the Galaxia label. To support the success of this album, Guerrero turned to his friends — skateboarder and bassist Monte Vallier, DJ Gadget, and former Threeo drummer Tim DeGaugh — to form the band Jet Black Crayon, who toured with Isotope 217 in 1999. Guerrero released A Little Bit of Somethin' on Mo'Wax in 2001.

Having long since abandoned the capricious punk of his Bones Brigade-era band, the skatepunk outfit Free Beer, Tommy Guerrero's kept busy by churning out records of pleasant, if not earth-shattering, mellow gold, and Soul Food Taqueria doesn't stray too far from the groove into which he's settled. For the hour duration of Soul Food Taqueria's mostly instrumental, sample-based, and Latin-tinged grooves, the only element that occasionally breaks up the very pleasant monotony of the tracks are the vocals. Lyrics Born, Gresham Taylor, and occasionally Guerrero himself all sing on the album, some to greater effect than others (e.g., Lyrics Born's "Gettin' It Together" is the standout track here, the sole hip-shaker among a gaggle of moodier pieces — the biggest inspiration for which seems to be the general street vibe of San Francisco's Mission district). And while Guerrero describes that scene pretty accurately with his music, on the whole Soul Food Taqueria fails to stick to the ribs because it simply lacks the proper spice.