On Real Animal, Alejandro Escovedo looks at growing up punk, but he doesn’t necessarily romanticize those days. More accurately, the album’s tone reflects someone who loves the life he has led, even if it involves loss (“Sister Lost Soul”), death (“Chelsea”) and illness (“Golden Bear”). Even in the most frantic songs, Escovedo sings with compassion and affection for the people he has known along the way, and on the occasions when the songs drift a little too close to mawkish (“Sensitive Boys” particularly), the warm gestures hold up.

The dignity in his performance suggests there’s something of value in songs about Iggy Pop, the Nuns, Rank and File, the True Believers, and the musicians he met along the way. The warmth doesn’t translate to singer-songwriter-y goodness, though. Real Animal is often hard with his punk roots showing, albeit with a glossy finish courtesy of producer Tony Visconti, best known for producing glam idols T. Rex and David Bowie. His treatment of the backing vocals adds a theatrical and subtly witty note, and one that’s sometimes useful because Escovedo can tend toward the serious.

It’s no surprise considering the subject matter that the best songs here rock. That isn’t always the case with Escovedo, but the poppy “Always a Friend,” the Iggy riff “Real as an Animal” and the headlong charge of “Chip and Tony” stay with you, and they remind you that he doesn’t just love the people he met leading a rock ’n’ roll life; he’s in love with rock ’n’ roll, and he’ll stay out all night.