By: Ryan Ruff Smith
For the first nine years of their career, Calexico were defined by their creative instrumentation. Their songs were always good, but it was their Southwestern flare that really made them unique - mariachi trumpets, accordion, melodica, and maracas gave their sound a singular sense of place. But on their latest album, Garden Ruin, they put aside the regional instrumentation (for the most part) to focus on songwriting. Generally speaking, I appreciate it when artists seek to refine their sound, and I would certainly understand if Calexico wanted to avoid being pigeonholed as, "that indie band that plays mariachi music" for the rest of their career. In this case, though, the change seems to be a step in the wrong direction.
Stripped of the idiosyncratic accoutrements, the music comes off as fairly straightforward Cities 97 pop rock in the vein of Guster or the Counting Crows. They are able to do this well, but after the excitement of hearing them pull a plethora of interesting sounds out of their multi-instrumental grab-bag, it’s a shame to hear them sounding so ordinary. The songcraft is pretty good, but it isn’t exceptional. And without the adventurous spirit and atmospheric touches of their earlier work, it starts to feel a bit vacuous.
They were preceded Thursday night by alt-country rockers Oakley Hall. They were a capable band, but had such a common sound that I found it difficult to stay interested. The songs really seemed to be more focused on extended instrumental interludes than lyrics or melodies, and the straightforward riffing was hardly attention-grabbing. Still, they were well received by the amiable crowd, and their songs served as a nice foil to Calexico’s more adventurous arrangements.
After a short set break, the Tucson, Arizona collective took the stage to a warm reception from the audience. Guitarist and lead singer Joey Burns started off the evening with the mellow acoustic “Yours and Mine” off of Garden Ruin. It is one of the more melodic songs off the new album, but was a bit of an odd choice for an opening number. The band picked up the pace quickly, though, following it with “Gypsy’s Curse” from their 1998 album The Black Light. It is a much more traditional Calexico song, and the crowd was excited to be treated to something more upbeat.
The show continued in this fashion, with the band focusing on their back catalogue but peppering their set with a handful of Garden Ruin songs. The occasional bursts of mariachi trumpets by John Convertino and Jacob Valenzuela proved to be the highlight of the show. Rather than sinking into cliché or coming off as a gimmick, the complex, syncopated trumpet arrangements provided the perfect emotional lift to Burns’ songs. And the instrumentals they played really let the band stretch out and display their wide array of influences – weaving together bits of spaghetti western and film noir soundtracks into sweeping, widescreen soundscapes. Their cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or,” on the other hand, showed how powerful the band could be with a truly great melody in its hands. They emphasize the flamenco elements hinted at in the original to create a distinctive version of the psychedelic folk/rock classic, and it got me daydreaming about how unstoppable Calexico would be if they could write a melody like that.
After finishing off an engagingly varied set, they called a few members of Oakley Hall back onto the stage for the encore. They played a cover of Doug Sahm’s “The Song of Everything” with Calexico, but the musicians were a little awkward playing together and no one in the audience seemed thrilled to see Oakley Hall make a reappearance. But Calexico still had a song of their own left, “Corona,” which Burns started off with a playful mini-rendition of “My Sharona” with altered lyrics. Their own tune was an upbeat Southwestern number which served as a fine close to an enjoyable evening. If I wasn’t quite satisfied it was only because of the creative potential that Calexico is still bursting with - nearly 10 years into their career - that they strangely seem to be shying away from.
Setlist:
Yours and Mine
Gypsy’s Curse
Across the Wire
Sunken Waltz
Deep Down
All The Pretty Horses
(Instrumental)
Roka
Not Even Stevie Nix
Cruel
(Instrumental)
Alone Again Or
All Systems Red
(Unknown Spanish Song)
Letter to Bowie Knife
Crystal Frontier
Encore:
Song of Everything
Corona
Location Info:
Fine Line Music Café
Artist Info: Calexico
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