Garden Ruin

So here it is, the fifth official album from everyone’s favourite lo-fi-ers, Calexico, and, as we have come to expect, it’s a mixed bag.
So mixed in fact, that if you skip from the colourful, alt-country opener, ‘Cruel’, straight to last song, ‘All Systems Red’, you’d be excused for thinking you were listening to two completely different albums. Throw in the Latin-infused and Amparo Sanchez-guest-vocalled ‘Roka’ and you’re as confused as a Hindu cowboy. However, there are elements of this album that work - and you can’t argue with the sheer musicality of Joey Burns, John Convertino et al.
You want still, melancholic tracks with a pinch of regret? I give you ‘Yours And Mine’, ‘Panic Open String’ and ‘Smash’. You want sunny, laid-back, jazz-infused pop? You could do worse than ‘Brisbee Blue’ and ‘Lucky Dime’.
While at times you can’t help but wish there was a bit more oomph to them, it’s when Calexico go out on a proverbial limb that they shine, as on ‘Nom De Plume’ – a French narrative song, no less.
Gritty and almost spiteful political commentary takes the form of both ‘Deep Down’ and the striking finale ‘All Systems Red’, a compellingly repeat-able rush of electric guitar, distortion, feedback and even shouting!
These two tracks, together with ‘Letter To Bowie Knife’, pretty much make up the energetic element of the album in its entirety. A shame really, we could do with more.