3 out of 5

Label: Flexidiscos, DIscos Mascarpone

Produced by: Paco Luca

Hm, well, I’d say the path has been chosen at this point.

Starting out noisy, boisterous, and riffy as all hell, Cuello – understandably – began a process of sharpening their approach and balancing the bluster with the pop. Their sophomore album foray in this direction was a bit unfocused, but followup Trae tu Cara split the difference, going halfsies with old style / new style tracks that each nailed their approach. But the latter has won out with Regalo Doble, now a full disc’s worth of flipping to the more streamlined rock aisle, which is by no means bad – and certainly still toe-tappy – but admittedly, for me, lacks an edge and a unique identity. There are still some good moments, especially later in the disc, when the rawness again peeks its head above the singalongs and hooks in some really epic track conclusions, but as that comes at the end of an otherwise comparatively mediocre batch of tunes, it’s hard to remain as intrigued by this disc – intrigued by its promise – as the former two albums allowed. Rather, the band has embraced their inner Weezer, even if, admittedly, maintaining their busy sound with an always jamming Ubaldo Fambuena backing up the rhythm riffs of lead and singer José Guerrero, whose throaty shout has also been mostly smoothed out.

I’ll still check in with the band after this, but since this direction has been in the wind along the way, I’ll probably be a casual listener past this point. Oppositely, though, I accept that Weezer rights catchy tunes, and if you want a bit more raucous version of that, I’d support your Cuello fandom.