The Silos -- Come On Like the Fast Lane

After a 20-plus year career with the Silos that has inspired critics to gushing raves and garnered the band a cultishly loyal fan base, it might seem as though frontman Walter Salas-Humara would be justified in coasting ever so slightly on his magnificently obscure reputation. Thankfully, Salas-Humara has never been content to rest on his press kit and has consistently challenged himself, his band and his fans. For Come On Like the Fast Lane, the Silos' debut for venerable Americana indie label Bloodshot, Salas-Humara once again channels his various passions -- the muted cool of Velvet Underground, the fiery sneer of The Rolling Stones, the twangy snarl of Crazy Horse -- and combines them in a soundtrack that edgily references the band's Indie Rock, Country and Folk roots. Fast Lane's opener, the visceral "Behind Me Now" -- co-penned by fellow obscure genius Steve Wynn -- rumbles and roars like vintage Stooges as it weaves in the melodic sophistication of R.E.M., while "Keeping Score" swirls with the psychedelic fuzz of vintage Dream Syndicate, "People Are Right" moans with AltCountry longing and "Top of the World" swings and swaggers like Mick and the boys. In less skilled hands, this kind of genre-jumping would indicate a band that can't commit to a sound, but The Silos are much too gifted to suffer from anything as pedestrian as indecision. Salas-Humara has always reveled in his creative schizophrenia and Come On Like the Fast Lane is further proof of his extraordinary ability to incorporate his myriad influences into a singular sonic coat of many colors. (BB) Grade: A