Alejandro Escovedo La Cruzada 2LP (Bone White Vinyl)

Originally and exclusively released on LP only for Record Store Day 2020, Latino punk pioneer Alejandro Escovedo's La Cruzada garnered seven Billboard chart positions, including his first-ever appearance on the Latin Albums chart, and immediately sold out.

The Spanish version of Escovedo's 2018 critically acclaimed The Crossing, which was hailed by NPR's alt.Latino as "possibly his finest recorded work yet" and Rolling Stone as "one of his strongest LPs to date," La Cruzada will see wide release on LP, August 27 via Yep Roc Records.

The 17-song album, which tells the story of two young immigrants to the U.S., who bond over a mutual love of punk rock as they struggle with the racism and discrimination as immigrants, becomes an even more intimate experience. Although not intended to be autobiographical, the album is, in many ways, the story of Alejandro Escovedo's own life.

Translated and recorded in Spanish, the album's lead vocals are helmed by Alex Ruiz (Del Castillo), who overlaid Spanish vocals on the original album's instrumental tracks, and features guest vocals from Patricia Vonne, Vanessa Del Fierro, and Escovedo. Escovedo worked with Ruiz to translate the songs together. "I chose Alex because he has a greater command of the Spanish language, and having his voice, especially with this material, story and songs, takes it to a different level than my voice did," offers Escovedo. In addition, Ruiz's bandmate Rick Del Castillo added guitar and piano to one track (which track?).

"I started developing this idea where a young boy from Mexico named Diego and a young boy from southern Italy named Salvo meet in South Texas. They were looking for the America they had heard about, seen in films, and heard on records," Escovedo explains. "They go looking for all the American bands that they love - the Stooges, the Ramones, the MC5, the Dolls - plus authors Ginsberg and Kerouac. Instead, they find they are in a very different America, one that wasn't as free and open as they'd believed it to be."

"The album has parts of everything I want to do and everything I've done," Escovedo adds. "Lyrically speaking, I say a lot of things I've held back or never said. 'Equipaje Adolescente' is about racism in music and the things I encountered, and the things I had to deal with as a kid growing up in Orange County, California, trying to be a surfer. Surfers hated Mexicans."