Album Review- Calexico- El Mirador

Let’s talk first a bit about Calexico’s “Hot Rail”. When I first heard the 2001 album, I was blown away. It was the kind of genre mashup like the first time I heard the Pogues (Celtic punk) or the Mighty Mighty Bosstones (ska and hardcore punk). Though not the bands first album, it was my first exposure to them and still holds up as this completely inventive idea- traditional Tex-Mex music meets Rock. Such a game changer that Uncut just named it # 214 of the best albums of the last 30 years. On a side note, outside of Uncut’s championing (which led to my discovery) -Allmusic, Rolling Stone and Christgau all panned it. Ironically, the UK press being a bigger fan of Americana than the States. Also, I was aware of Jump For Joey, the pre-Calexico ska meet big band group with Joey Burns and I thought they were lame. What’s interesting about Jump With Joey is that they predate the Brian Setzer Orchestra and the Cherry Poppin Daddies and that swing 90s revival as well as predating a lot of Third Wave ska bands. I truly should revisit that band. (Lest you forget, like I did, Burns next move, taking advantage of 90s trends, was the Friends of Dean Martinez) In any case, from those unlikely roots came Calexico, a band that has been prolific (12 albums and plenty of EPs in 26 years) and has done the unexpected (collaborating with Iron and Wine, Lisa Germano and Howe Gelb and various times crossing paths with artists as diverse as Tortoise, Neko Case and musician/producer JD Foster (Dwight Yoakum, Patti Griffin, Chris Mars)). Calexico has carried on, often to critical acclaim (2006's Garden Ruin and 2012 Algiers, to name maybe the most loved outside Hot Rail). With the workhorse element of the band, I have to admit I have watched their activity but not necessarily closely. It would be incorrect to say “El Mirador” is a return to form, but it certainly feels like an album that states “You may have not listened to us in awhile, but check this out”. There’s a very clean feel to the album, so I am not sure that any Top 40 radio station would ever play this, but one would like to think they could sneak it in. It’s hard to otherwise point out what is different about this album, but it feels like a lot went into putting together the best 12 songs that fit their style. There is (as always) a number of guest contributors who I am sure provide an extra creative spark. It is interesting for me (as far as the desert as I can be in Iowa) that a local artist Pieta Brown has become a consistent member of the band going back over a decade, and has a couple of writing credits on this record.