Calexico - Spoke (1997)

As one might expect from former members of Giant Sand and Friends of Dean Martinez, this one is another sun-dried tomato. With vocals murmuring just below hearing level and guitars pushing and shoving between a lonesome, distant twang and a sleepy strum as on "Sanchez," the music feels like a soundtrack from a hippie western where the hero survives banishment in the desert by eating peyote buttons. Like the Dean Martinez hombres, Calexico draws upon a choice array of exotic instrumentation (accordion, mandolin, violin, vibes), but the heart of the record is closer to a low-key Meat Puppets hootenanny, the primary combination of guitar and snare drum providing the colors as well as the frame on gentle beauties like "Glimpse" and "Spokes." A well-placed occasional rocker, like the surf-fired "Scout" or the bar mitzvah delight "Mazurka," shake things up nicely, but for the most part, you won't stray too far from the futon. Then again, why should you? --John Chandler