What does it sound like?:
I love Calexico me, but I can’t ever recall reading much about them on here – not an AW friendly outfit maybe? Too Americana? Too Mexicana? New album The Thread That Keeps Us to the untutored ear might sound like more of the same – no bad thing if your ear is attuned to Calexico in the first place. But there are subtle changes – less emphasis on the Mariachi trumpets and dusty tumbleweed strewn soundscapes that the band have pretty much made their instantly recognisable signature. The envelope has been pushed a little into new directions, with an updated sound and different rhythms underpinning many of the tracks. But the core members of Joey Burns and John Convertino are still there, and this is still a record that couldn’t have been made by any other band. A 10/10 rating in The Independent reflects the fact that not only is this a fabulous album, but that Calexico haven’t entirely lost their freshness after 10 studio albums.
What does it all *mean*?
Probably that Calexico ought to more highly rated than they are. From Feast Of Wire onwards they have produced a slew of excellent albums. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but Carried To Dust from a few years back is probably the one that gets most airplay chez Bungliemutt
Goes well with…
Dusty roads, wide open spaces, and tumbleweed.
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
Dusty roads, wide open spaces, and tumbleweed.
Kid Dynamite says
Love Calexico. I really must pull my finger out and sort a ticket for the upcoming Bristol gig. They are tremendous live.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Sold out at Trinity old son, I’m afraid. đ
Kid Dynamite says
oh FFS. I’m missing Mogwai on Saturday because that sold out too quickly as well. Surprised they were booked into Trinity in the first place – last time round they played the Academy, which is more than twice the size and seemed to fill it respectably.
Kid Dynamite says
Moved to the Colston Hall! More tickets available now – are you going, @vulpes-vulpes?
Vulpes Vulpes says
No, sorry. The website won’t let you pick the seats for this gig, so I’m not going to invest.
Kid Dynamite says
I think the stalls will be standing only. Not sure if the balcony will be open or not – Colston Hall is a lot bigger than Trinity, so it’ll depend on just how much extra demand there is, I suppose.
davebigpicture says
Like the new album (haven’t given it 6 plays yet) but Edge of the Sun is my favourite album. I bought the vinyl of The Thread That Keeps Us on Saturday only to find that the whole album, complete with bonus tracks was on Spotify. The vinyl is a “nice to have” plus I like to support artists and record shops but I didn’t really need to spend that ÂŁ23.
I’m hoping to get to Shepherds Bush Empire to see them. They really are fabulous live. Anyone know if Gaby Moreno is touring with them this time ? I LURVE her voice on City of Dreams.
davebigpicture says
Update: just got 1st floor tickets for Shepherds Bush. Going with my 17 year old son. Iâm seeing Fall Out Boy at the O2 on the Saturday with my daughter. No idea what thatâll be like.
Podicle says
I love Calexico, but Feast of Wire was the last album that really grabbed me. The last couple seemed pleasant, but bland. Seen them live several times, and superb each time.
Baron Harkonnen says
TTTKU is a great album, I’ve been listening to everyday for over a week. That and Forever Changes.
Moose the Mooche says
How are your pants doing?
minibreakfast says
Crusty I’ll bet.
davebigpicture says
I’ve tried with Forever Changes but I just don’t get it.
Baron Harkonnen says
Some do, some don’t.
Moosie, pants, WTF
MC Escher says
There is a lyric on the album involving pants and the snottiness thereof. Give the album a listen, I think you’ll love it!
Moose the Mooche says
Goes to show you weren’t listening to the lyrics, naughty boy.
Tiggerlion says
You don’t have to listen to the lyrics to hear that line. It’s the only one I know from the album.
Moose the Mooche says
Surely you also know “…end end end end end end end end….and!”
Profound stuff.
minibreakfast says
Shouldn’t you be on the loo right now?
Oh you are? Yikes. Er, attaboy!
Moose the Mooche says
Oh that one’s long since “launched”.
Tiggerlion says
Is that what he was saying?
You learn something new every day.
Baron Harkonnen says
getting my pistol and wasting a few waste of timers
RedLemon says
Been listening to that most of last week. It’s great.
Was hoping they’d be at Green man or EOTR, but no luck as yet.
SteveT says
Been a fan of Calexico since their second album Black Heart. This new one is very good indeed but anyone buying it should pay the extra for the bonus disc which is more typical Calexico with the dusty instrumentals.
bungliemutt says
Fully agree – Calexico have released their last 3 or 4 albums with a bonus CD of extra tracks, and the one accompanying TTTKU is really lovely.
Vulpes Vulpes says
For years I had this lot pinned as a band from whom I didn’t need to buy a CD, because there’s loads of great gigs of theirs on archive dot org. Just last week I wandered into the Bristol FOPP one lunchtime (generally a tenner at least) and this album was playing. I now own one actual Calexico CD, and it’s bloody lovely.
bungliemutt says
They have many treasures available on their website including CDs of live material and rare and unreleased tracks – almost as much as official released stuff, and some of it is very good indeed.
Wilson Wilson says
Love them. Their gig at Celtic Connections last year on the day of Trump’s inauguration was one of my favourites ever. They’re not coming anywhere near me this time, unfortunately. Even their patchy albums always have a couple of great songs on them.
Junior Wells says
Hmmm less trumpet = a lesser album. IMO
Not having heard it of course.
Tiggerlion says
Thank you, bungliemutt. I was wavering but you’ve persuaded me to shell out!
Tiggerlion says
I bought this and am still loving it. I got the deluxe 2 CD version and disc two is possibly even better then CD 1.
Calexico are one of those bands, along with Yo La Tengo and XTC, that are wonderfully consistent, scoring 4/5 for virtually every album. All are good, maybe great, but nothing outstanding. The Thread That Keeps Us is truly outstanding, and so is And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out and Drums & Wires.
Thanks for the review, bunglie.