Terror Amor

If you recognize the name AJ Davila, you must be familiar with the band he leads. Davila 666 are a rowdy, rollicking bunch of lo-fi rock & rollers who have made a couple excellent albums for In the Red and appear to be on hiatus as everyone works on other projects. Terror Amor is Davila's first solo album and it hews closely to the rough-and-ready sound he cultivated with 666, but also shows a little bit of ambition as he stretches out into areas the band never explored. Featuring a wide range of guests including Cole Alexander of Black Lips, Las Robertas vocalist Mercedes Oller, electro-pop singer Selma Oxor, Fofé Abreu of Fofé y los Fetiches, Chilean vocalist Alex Anwandter, and many more, Terror dips its dirty toes into glam rock on the bang-a-gong rockers "2333" and "Hey," chops and screws the vocals on "Chica Tinieblas," does the Strokes one better in the sleek guitar rock department on "Que No Será," and generally adds a layer of experimentation to the scruffy pop sound that gives Davila's simple and fun songs a boost of adrenaline. Davila is a crack hand at writing a catchy rock & roll hook and the album is bursting at the seams with songs that sound like hits, from the poppier tunes like the bubblegummy "Es Verano Ya" and the folk-rock jangly "Michelle" to the flat-out rockers that jump out of the speakers like they are on fire ("Animal," "Noches Negras.") There is so much fun-loving energy and spark on the album that listening to it is like sticking your finger into a light socket. Don't try that at home, because you might die. The worst that might happen here is that you drive your more strait-laced friends crazy by playing the album over and over; it's that addictive and fun. Terror Amor is a brilliant debut, and while it would be nice to have more Davila 666 albums in the future, if AJ keeps making albums this good they won't be missed.