This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Austin singer-songwriteri and guitar slinger Alejandro Escovedo’s career has gone through more personality changes than Roseanne interviewing Sybil — he’s been a cow-punk with Rank & File, a plain ol’ punk with The Nuns, a roots-rocker with Buick MacKane and a Tex-Mex troubadour on his solo albums.
On with his latest release, he’s found a way to cram them all onto one disc without sounding schizophrenic. Over nine tracks recorded across the U.S., Bourbonitis Blues alternates rough-and-tumble rockers (like the Rolling Stones-style country honk of Guilty) with tender ballads and originals with inspired covers (like bleakly elegant readings of The Velvet Underground’s Pale Blue Eyes and The Gun Club’s Sex Beat). But no matter how much he mixes it up, you get the feeling Escovedo is just being himself.
