Rancho Cucamonga has nothing whatsoever to do with the former (Belgian) Radio 1 programme. It is a club in Los Angeles [Note: actually a city near Los Angeles] where John Hoskinson often performs for a faithful audience. With "Pancho Fantastico", this songwriter from Riverside presents his second solo CD after the debut album "Miscellaneous Heathen" from 2004. This sympathetic bard received his musical influences from the Beatles, Jellyfish, the Jayhawks, Crowded House and Elvis Costello among others. Especially a voice a la Neil Finn and the music of the Fab Four from Liverpool is clearly recognizable in the first song on this record, "Miss Rejection". Craftmanship as a songwriter shows in numbers like "She's Changing My Mind" and "Guaranteed", where especially the McCartney-ish voice produces visions of flashbacks to the Beatles. In the tearjerker "Just Think It Over", it is not the voice but the song itself that reminds me of Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney or Tom Petty. The Big O would have loved to record this number on one of his albums and his voice would have emphasized the power of the song even more. "Only One By Your Side", "I Am Not Surprised" and the weepy closing track "We Can Never Be Friends" would not be out of place on albums by Squeeze or Crowded House and the ballad "Evolve" is one of the absolute highlights on this CD as far as I'm concerned. John Hoskinson writes fresh, modern and melodious, catchy songs, all of which are reminiscent of the golden sixties and swinging seventies. On top of that, for this album he managed to surround himself with execellent musicians, every one of them, who previously won their spurs with Cracker, Rosie Flores, Aimee Mann and Beck, among others. Therefore Hoskinson delivers an immensely enjoyable pop record and deserves his place in the already crowded contemporary music scene.