Los Santos – El Corazon

Given the band name name and album title the last place you would expect Los Santos to come from would be the London suburb of Deptford, well sort of, this may take some explaining without using the word supergroup, ok, using it more than once. The core of Los Santos is Michael G Bayliss, vocals and bass guitar, and Richard England, guitar and vocals. Practically joined at the hip they have both been members of The Saints, The Members and Alcohol. The rest of Los Santos is fluid, on this occasion the duo are joined by half of Wonk Unit, Alex Wonk on drums and X Ray Vez on lead vocals, as well as guest appearances from Kate O Brien (MC5), Andy Cox (The Beat), Chris Musto (Johnny Thunders / Glen Matlock). If you look at that line up you have influences from every pretty much every era of what came before, and it’s no coincidence that this is exactly what you get on their upcoming six track album, El Corazon.

Whilst six tracks might seem a little meagre, sometimes less is more. The opening cut, On The Strip (Vegas Baby), opens with sound of desperation and hope that anyone who’s ever walked into a Vegas casino will recognise, you are jaunted of your Vegas memories with a full blooded absolute beast of a riff that is overlaid with X Ray Vez‘s melodic deadpan vocals. We leave the Vegas lights for Bourbon Street, an overdriven ode to the Johnny Thunders and New Orleans, the city where he sadly passed away in 1991. By now I’m adapting to the fact that it looks like this EP is never going to relent, Stoneface only backs this feeling up. It also includes a subtle tribute to The Ruts incendiary Babylon’s Burning, and it confirms they are keeping the torch alight.

Sorry is in the same gloriously lo-fi driven punk attack mode, somehow the whole EP just feels live, or maybe that should be alive? There is a switch in style with Fanclub (For Ronnie Spector) that sees Michael G Bayliss switch to vocals, this is a track has that feel of Ronnie’s legacy, in the same way that The Courettes do and the Ramones did. For the final cut Bayliss stays on vocals as Los Santos deliver a driven cover of Husker Dü’s Sorry Somehow, one that sees the band by joined by a creditable list of veterans. What El Corazon may lack in numbers it more than makes up for with muscle, in short this is six tracks of near punk perfection that is delivered just on the right side of raw.

What does the future hold for Los Santos? They are reportedly working on Dream Baby Dream, a reworking of the Suicide track, and an EP of tracks by The Saints which will be a tribute to the much missed duo of Chris Bailey and Algy Ward. Beyond that what shape Los Santos will take and who will join their ranks remains to be seen, always open to new collaborators and new ideas, the one thing you can probably guarantee is that they will never be predictable.

El Corazon will be released on CD on November 3rd via Cadiz Music and is available via Bandcamp and streaming platforms.