FOLLOW ME

"Follow Me sees Yerba Buena combine their two previous releases (President Alien and Island Life) into one album, in an attempt to conquer the European market. It's Latin music targeted at the Black Eyed Peas/Ozomatli fan rather than the staunch purist, but offers a healthy dose of fun and funky Latin sounds nevertheless. The album opens with the sing along 'Guajira', a mixture of seductive guitars and smoothly delivered lyrics, before moving on to the marching sound of 'El Burrito' and its flamencoesque vocals. Songs such as 'La Candela' with an introspective feel and deep fuzzy baseline show the band can do slow too, but for the most part it's all about having fun. It is well produced throughout and at times is reminiscent of Manu Chao, though less cerebral. The band is clearly one that tries to be all things to all people, and suffers because of it. They are at their best when the Latin vibe is strongest but seem to have a soft spot for cheese; 'Bilingual Girl' recalls the Black Eyed Peas 'Latin Girls' and 'Belly dancer' is a track that requires at least eight tequilas before it can be tolerated. An impressive array of collaborations are included on the album however; 'Tu Casa, Mi Casa' features Carlinhos Brown, 'Sugardaddy' Celia Cruz, John Leguizomo and Les Nubians, and 'La Candela' features Orishas - the latter being one of the album's highlights. Yerba Buena are not a band to be taken too seriously and as long as you remember that the album is a good listen,aside from a couple of disappointing tracks. With a little more focus, I suspectwe are yet to see the best of this band." (Joe Kent, www.flyglobalmusic.com)