Record Rack

In the Los Lobos cocina, Cesar Rosas is the meat-and-potatoes man, so it’s no surprise that his “Soul Disguise”--the first solo album by a member of the East L.A. institution--serves up heaps of dense, earthy comfort food.

The singer-guitarist has been playing this kind of music for some 25 years, so it’s pretty much second nature for him. He brings an earnest swagger to a set (in stores Tuesday) that branches from blues, R&B; and soul into a folk-rock vein reminiscent of his old compadre Dave Alvin, along with a taste or two of Tex-Mex, spiked with accordion from Flaco Jimenez.

Rosas, who also produced, buries some eerie vocal echo in Ike Turner’s “You’ve Got to Lose,” and he stirs up a psychedelic swirl in the title song. These touches of experimentation help counter his music’s tendency to sound retro and generic.

And despite its low level of revelation and ambition, the album radiates an unmistakable vitality. Both of Rosas’ drummers, Victor Bisetti and Aaron Ballesteros, anchor beats that are rugged and raw, yet subtle, complex and varied, from nearly straight-ahead blues-rock to sinuous New Orleans patterns. It’s this rhythmic heart that allows Rosas’ music to find the poetry in the bedrock.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.

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* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://161.35.110.226/soundclips