COURTESY OF LOS LOBOS

Los Lobos still on
the ride of their lives

"The Ride" continues for the wolves of East Los Angeles.

In the interest of reaching as many of their fans on a tour to support their recent album celebrating three decades of musical brotherhood, Los Lobos has extended said ride to include stop-offs in Japan and Hawaii.

Los Lobos Where: Pipeline Cafe, 805 Pohukaina St. When: 7:30 p.m. Monday Tickets: $30 advanced and $35 at the door, available at the club's box office, Jelly's in Aiea, Cheapo Music and Comics in Puck's Alley, the Liquor Collection in Ward Warehouse, Good Guys Music in Kapahulu, Hungry Ear in Kailua, Rainbow Books on University Avenue and Samurai in Kapolei Call: 589-1999 Also: 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Sangha Hall, 424 Kilauea Ave., Hilo, $30 advanced and $35 at the door, call (808) 969-9617, and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Castle Theatre of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahului, $30, $35 and $40 reserved seating, call (808) 242-7469.

It's no falsehood that the core of Louie Pérez, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin have been part of what's been dubbed as "America's most important band." With a sound that generously ranges from roots rock 'n' roll and traditional Mexican music to more sonic experimentation, the band's latest album and EP of covers, "Ride This," name-checks their influences and musical compatriots by inviting them to the anniversary festivities.

You've got Bobby Womack doing an older Lobos tune, "Wicked Rain," that smoothly segues into his own soul chestnut "Across 110th Street." Elvis Costello also pipes in on a song from the band's major-label debut of 20 years ago, "Matter of Time," and Little Willie G. of the seminal 1960s Chicano rock band Thee Midnighters brings it all back home with his rendition of "Is This All There Is?" And Dave Alvin, formerly of the Blasters (another roots band that gave Los Lobos their very first prime opening gig), offers the co-written and wistful "Somewhere in Time."

Back in time, specifically the last time the band played here in 1998, with vacationing family members in tow, it was a time of transition for them. They'd just been dropped by their longtime record label Warner Bros., and were shopping around a then-new album called "This Time."

But the road would take a tragic turn for the worse when, at about this time the following year, Rosas' wife, Sandra (who was with her husband during the Hawaii gig), would disappear from the couple's L.A. home while Rosas was on the road. Even though her body was never found, her half brother was arrested, due to incriminating evidence, on murder and kidnapping charges, and is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

STILL, TIME has been on Los Lobos' side, and six years later the band makes a long-overdue return to the islands.

And, yes, they still play "La Bamba," their cover of the old Ritchie Valens hit that catapulted the band briefly into the national spotlight back in '87.

Talking by phone from his L.A. home before the band left for Japan last week, Pérez said that after "La Bamba," "the band wanted to get back on track, so that's why we came out with 'La Pistola y el Corazón,'" an album filled with Mexican traditional songs. "But even though we retired it from our concert set list for a while, we figure it's like if Hendrix didn't play 'Purple Haze' onstage. Besides, we're getting more young people, kids in their 20s, at our shows, and they probably don't even remember our doing the song."

With Pérez no longer doing the drumming chores for the band, Hawaii audiences will be introduced to Cougar Estrada, who first played with Pérez and Hidalgo in '99 on their side project Latin Playboys' second album. (Victor Bisetti returns with the band on assorted percussion.)

The band also plans to release a DVD next month of the best live performances gathered from a recent two-night stint at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, and then a live record culled from their touring since the beginning of the year.

"We do a two-hour show," Pérez said, "and just about cover everything from all our records, with a little bit of emphasis on the new album."

After Hawaii, band members return to their L.A. homes, "shut down before Thanksgiving, take January off and then start an acoustic tour of the U.S., starting in the middle of February."

WHILE THE BAND has never been one to reinvent themselves on strictly cosmetic terms, the guys continue to be restless explorers musically.

"It all started with the 'Kiko' album," Pérez said. "Those recording sessions were something otherworldly. We were doing things in a certain way, following a set formula that made successes of 'The Neighborhood' and 'By the Light of the Moon' albums. ... We were still living off the popularity of 'La Bamba,' so we were scratching our heads, knowing that there was more to life than pop records."

Luckily, the band met the production duo of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, who helped steer their sound into a new and more challenging direction.

"We felt we didn't have to follow any formula. We just created music as we were recording it, taking chances, not having to feel that the first take of a song wasn't enough and that we had to do 20 more. ... It was a revelation to us. Even though not all the i's and t's weren't crossed, so to speak, that music shot us in another dimension, and it lasted a few years."

Los Lobos, however, got back to basics with "Good Morning Aztlán," the album that preceded "The Ride," putting into play another facet in their collective career that thrives on -- not planning.

"After 30 years we've learned that we have to trust our intuition," Pérez said. "It's not like waiting for the light bulb to go on, but we do keep our antennas up and anticipating the next inspiration. We'll probably start another studio record in the spring -- and we have no idea what it's going to sound like."

One thing that Pérez knows for certain is that "trying to be as objective as possible, we're a kick-ass band, with solid songwriting." So local audiences should be ready to get their collective okole kicked with a righteous thump when Los Lobos hits the stage.