La Oreja de Van Gogh
Guapa
Back in the ’80s, most of rock en español bands that were able to go grow out of their local markets came from Spain. These days the playing field is flatter than Earth was for 15th-century conquistadors and La Oreja de Van Gogh is attempting to take over radio waves in the New World. Guapa is the band’s fourth album, a record that to virgin ears will sound refreshing and innovative in the current reggaeton-overdosed state of Hispanic pop music. In reality, Guapa (Spanish for attractive girl, an allusion to the group’s blue-eyed, yellow-haired lead singer) is a bit formulaic, and sounds similar to a previous release, Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te Hacías la Dormida. The band’s music has not ventured beyond the melodic-guitar rock infused with a hint of synthesizer found on all of its four albums, and seeing as how it tends to, er, discover new markets with each release (U.S. peeps in this case), La Oreja will play it safer than Chris Columbus landing on a Bahamian beach. 3 stars
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La Oreja de Van Gogh plays the Tabernacle on Fri., Nov. 24.