
Two years and one stopgap live album after “Heaven” turned them into Grammy-winning stars, brothers Henry, Jojo and Ringo Garza return with the solid, if not spectacular, Sacred. The new album doesn’t have anything with the across-the-board appeal of “Heaven” (though the Southern-rockin’ “Diamonds” comes close), but it doesn’t have any duds either. What Sacred does have, though, is 13 tracks of soulful blues-rock, highlighted by Henry Garza’s funky, sultry guitar playing. Sacred is better the further it gets from the blues. The groovy “Roses” could be a lost outtake from a late-’60s Santana album; “Texican Style” sounds like some classic soul side’s conjunto cousin; and “Outlaws” smokes like Jimi. The album isn’t a quantum leap forward for the Boys, whose first two proper albums have them well on their way to creating a Texican Rock ’n’ Soul they can call their own, but it’s a step in the right direction.