Rosie Flores: Speed of Sound : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

A pretty manicure and a frilly skirt never stopped Rosie Flores from tossing off a rippin' guitar solo. This rockabilly filly has been wailing on her Gretch for the better part of three decades, including a stint with L.A. girl band the Screamin' Sirens. Her 1987 solo debut earned her a spot next to Dwight Yoakam and Steve Earle under the tag "new traditionalists" (whose music was neither new, nor traditional: Discuss). Never content to be a retro act, Flores has always bridged the rockabilly she loves (and lives) with rock, pop, swing -- and on Speed of Sound -- jazz. Her cover of "Don't Know If I'm Comin' or Goin'," sung in her lilting but surprisingly resilient vocals, evokes jazz singers of the mid-1930s; her own "Somebody's Someone" marries western swing fiddling (provided by Tammy Rogers) to gypsy jazz guitar. A faithful reproduction of Marshall Crenshaw's "Somewhere Down the Line" reveals Flores' poppier proclivities, while her version of Buck Owens' "Hot Dog" recalls the early Sun rockabilly that's closest to her heart. Flores' other originals, "Don't Take It Away," a blues-rocker with a Bo Diddley beat, and the spaghetti western-flavored title track (featuring the lap steel of ubiquitous multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz) will make you glad she's still exploring the breadth of American music. (MEREDITH OCHS - May 7, 2001)