Bonus Tracks

PLOWMAN

Sweet (Pinche Gringo)

Since the alternative explosion of the early Nineties few things have been worse off than good old hard rock. Remember when you didn't need three suitcases worth of emotional baggage to make rock music, when all you had to do was plug in, turn up, and wail? Plowman does, and Sweet won't disappoint those who are looking for a little old-fashioned, angst-free (if watered down) fist-pumping, FM stereo rock. - Chris Gray

THE BRINK

Into the Precipice

Into the Precipice sounds like that background music to one of those SOS shows on cable access in which an earthy, folkie couple play to seven or eight people (including toddlers) while the camera pans down to the fecal matter floating invisibly atop Barton Springs. Is it the intoxicating green of the lake or the chill of the Springs that fools people into thinking the general public wants to hear their living room tinkerings? The Brink has given it the ol' Austin try, and by god, that's how it sounds.

- Mindy LaBernz

JAGUAR SUN

As befits something this similar to the Counting Crows, El Paso's Jaguar Sun has a nice grasp on vivid vocals, clean rhythms, and lyrical mysticism - more than enough to be entirely listenable, and yet just short of anything memorable. - Andy Langer

LARA & REYES

Guitarras Hermanas (Higher Octave Music)

With a modest dash of palmas, percussion, and "programming," San Antonio guitarists Sergio Lara and Joe Reyes do a set in the manner of Lucia & McLaughlin. This is inspiring work. These guys insert, tack on, spot weld, and lash together guitar styles in a gratefully un-seamless work, reserving only two selections for standards before going to market and shopping guitar styles from Spain, the Mediterranean, and Mexico - there's even whiff of metal. A first-rate recording.

- Stephen McGuire "Bonus Tracks" reviews all local and Texas-based
releases commercially available. Send to: "Bonus Tracks,"
The Austin Chronicle, PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765.