Calexico - Convict Pool

Calexico’s new EP, Convict Pool, encompasses the band’s diverse songbook best as it can in 20 short minutes. At its heart a political outfit (how could they avoid it, chronicling life on the U.S.-Mexico border?), the Tucson-based collective issues a vibes-driven, minor-key lament over the rise of the Far Right (“Convict Pool”); visits the dangerous shoals of love on the flamenco-like “Sirena”; and exhibits its instrumental chops on the accordion-driven, Paris-in-the-’50s cabaret piece, “Praskovia.” You want covers? We got covers—Calexico’s healthy Minutemen fixation gets a high-Mariachi workout on “Corona,” Nicolai Dunger and band join in on a searing live rendition of Love’s “Alone Again Or,” and Joey Burns offers an Anglicized version of Francois Breut’s sexy “Si Tu Disais.” In short, another versatile, topical and well-executed effort.