Joey Burns and John Convertino are great musicians. Their ability adds
greatly to every project they assist in, I'm sure. But while I appreciate their
ability, I never quite loved the first two full lengths from their full-time
band Calexico. Spoke was a bit bland in parts and too lo-fi, and I never quite
got into the soundtrack material that dominated Black Light. Hot Rail, however,
seems to hit me about right.
One of the best songs on the album is a fairly straightforward country and
western song about 90s suburban blight called "Service and Repair." The title
of the song makes it seem almost comic, but the lyrics are quite bitter,
comparing urban expansion to the goldrush and the local Wal-Mart shopping
strip to a ghosttown. The theme of the song, naturally, is Our Soil Our
Strength (the name of the label the band has started), pointing out how
expansion is affecting our environment and, in turn, us.
The "Ballad of Cable Hogue" is Pavement-style pop song with a well composed
chorus and male/female vocals, the female part spoken in French. The lyrics
tell a tale of the toll paid for giving in to a Siren's call:
"She promised me she'd be there when I returned / she didn't say she'd have an
army there as well / ... / I should have stayed way out yonder / better off
with the scorpions and snakes."
"Fade" is the most epic track, coming in at close to 8 minutes, and allows
Calexico to fully exploit guest musician Rob Mazurek and his cornet, that
acts as lead instrument. The song is structured similarly to
Do Make Say Think
or Sigur Ros'
latest offerings, working up one big crescendo over the first 5 minutes of
the song to get to a full, dense section of guitar, drums, vocals, and,
of course, Mazurek's cornet.
"Sonic Wind" would not be out of place on a The Shipping News album, despite
its acoustic nature. The song has a flowing, aggressive bass line and a
section of hushed spoken vocals that really bring to mind Jeff Mueller.
As I said in the beginning, I am not the hugest Calexico fan, and on this album
there are at least 3 songs that I don't really care for at all: El Picador,
Muleta, and Tres Avisos. Do you notice anything about those three titles?
Yeah, there are exactly 3 songs on the album with Spanish titles, and I don't
like any of them. The boys in Calexico are fine musicians; unfortunately,
that also leads them to experiment with several different styles of music.
While I am sure their mariachi music is quite authentic and quite good (for
mariachi music), I don't care for it, and these 3 tracks left me cold.
Despite that, there is much on this album to like. I finally find myself
wanting to go back to a Calexico album.
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