Calexico - 2006 - Garden Ruin

Artist...............: Calexico
Album................: Garden Ruin
Genre................: Folk Rock Country
Source...............: Cd
Year.................: 2006
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy
Codec................: FLAC
Information..........: TntVillage
Covers...............: Front
Total Size...........: 270 Mb


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When a band starts out with an aesthetic as specific as Calexico's, sometimes expanding that sound

means incorporating more pop elements into it. And, after years of being known -- accurately or not

-- as the indie-mariachi band, Calexico may have felt boxed in by their very distinctiveness. Like

Feast of Wire, Garden Ruin finds them moving further into more song-based, immediately accessible

territory (their collaborations and performances with bands like Wilco and Iron & Wine may have also

inspired them to tone down their theatricality). With no instrumentals -- a first on a Calexico album

-- and less emphasis on elaborate arrangements, Garden Ruin presents an almost mainstream version of

Calexico, with mixed results. At times, as on "Yours and Mine," the band strays toward typical alt-

country and ends up sounding overly restrained and mature. However, the beautiful melodies on "Panic

Open String" and "Bisbee Blue" (a warm little love song to Bisbee, AZ, where the album was recorded)

and the '70s singer/songwriterisms of "Lucky Dime" prove that the band can bend pop to Calexico's

sound instead of vice versa. Though Joey Burns' whispery vocals help make Garden Ruin feel initially

more hushed than it actually is, it becomes clear as the album unfolds that Calexico haven't

completely abandoned their flair for striking arrangements and drama. They've just channeled it in

different directions. "Cruel" -- whose lyrics deal with environmental corruption -- nods to the

classic Calexico sound with its swooning pedal steel, brass, and strings, while "Roka" is a haunted

yet sexy-sounding duet that echoes the band's most stunning moments. "Letter to Bowie Knife" (which

sounds like a kissing cousin to their fantastic cover of Love's "Alone Again Or?") marries lyrics

like "This world's an ungodly place" to a buoyant melody, one of Calexico's time-tested tricks.

Likewise, the gentlest, most intimate ballad is called "Smash" -- but even this relatively quiet song

has thunderous timpani rolling in the distance. The band also rocks more than it has in the past,

earnestly on "Deep Down" and with real anguish on Garden Ruin's striking final track, "All Systems

Red." Ultimately, this album ends up being a more naturalistic take on Calexico's sound; just because

it's less stylized doesn't mean it's less interesting -- it just takes a little more time for Garden

Ruin's power to reveal itself.


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Tracklist
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01. Cruel
02. Yours and Mine
03. Bisbee Blue
04. Panic Open String
05. Letter to Bowie Knife
06. Roka
07. Lucky Dime
08. Smash
09. Deep Down
10. Nom de Plume
11. All System