Among the many qualities that have made
Steve Wynn one of rock's truest unsung heroes is his willingness to share the spotlight without gearing down his own talents.
Wynn's a guy who thrives on a good collaboration, from
Danny & Dusty and
Gutterball to
the Baseball Project and a pair of albums he recorded with
Paco Loco (aka Paco Martinez), a Spanish musician and producer best known as a member of the band
Australian Blonde.
Loco and
Wynn struck up a friendship while
Wynn toured Spain in 1998, and in 2000,
Wynn suggested they collaborate on a song for a project with eMusic. The tune spawned an entire album, with
Wynn recording his parts in the United States and mailing tapes to
Loco and his bandmates in Spain. That album,
Momento, credited to
Australian Blonde Featuring Steve Wynn, led to a second project in 2007, with
Wynn and his longtime drummer
Linda Pitmon recording with
Loco at his studio in Andalucia under the collective handle
Smack Dab. The
Smack Dab album and
Momento receive their long-overdue American debut on the two-fer
Sketches in Spain, and both recordings are a testament to
Wynn's gift as a songwriter and how he can mesh his own ideas with those of his musical partners. In some respects,
Momento sounds like the polished and accessible pop album
Wynn would never have dared to make on his own;
Australian Blonde deliver a set of lively and eclectic indie pop, dotted with jangly guitars, keyboards, and occasional horn and string overdubs, while
Wynn's dour vocals and streetwise, often witty lyrics make for a fascinating complement, blending sweet and sour in just the right proportions. This music turns out to be a superb accompaniment for
Wynn's lyrics and vocals, without ever sounding like what you'd expect from a
Steve Wynn record. The
Smack Dab album is a very different project, sounding much less glossy and more organic, with
Wynn and
Loco tossing guitar lines back and forth while
Pitmon holds down a lean, imaginative backbeat and
Wynn delivers smart, razor-sharp lyrics. While musically
Smack Dab has a personality that's very much its own,
Wynn's contribution is strongly in the vein of his later-period
Dream Syndicate work, especially on "My Cross to Bear" and "The Hollywood Sign," not derivative but a glimpse into a side of his musical personality that's not always on display these days. And on each album,
Wynn has some corny fun with a cover, tackling
Hoyt Axton's "Never Been to Spain" on
Smack Dab and "Black Is Black" by Spanish one-hit wonders
Los Bravos on
Momento.
Sketches in Spain brings together two very worthy rarities that
Steve Wynn's fans will be delighted to hear, and according to the liner notes,
Wynn and
Paco have another album in the works that hopefully won't take so long to arrive stateside.