Spoke

On their 1997 debut *Spoke*, Calexico write and play as if scoring an imaginary motion picture. Joey Burns and John Convertino (ex-members of Giant Sand and Friends of Dean Martinez) loosely string together Southwestern cantina ballads, L.A.-style country-rock numbers and European cabaret pieces into a haunting if slightly disjointed whole. *Spoke* invites the listener to imagine sun-baked ribbons of highway traversing vast, junk-littered desert landscapes. Playing a variety of mostly acoustic instruments, Burns and Convertino dabble in Spanish marches (“Sanchez”), surging surf-rockers (“Scout”), Slavic dance pieces (“Mazurra,” “Mazurka”) and shadowy folk fragments (“Low Expectations,” “Windjammer”). There are moments of weird loveliness here, such as the melancholy “Stinging Nettle” and the slightly ominous “Paper Route.” With deft nonchalance, Calexico invokes the laid-back fatalism of Gram Parsons and the early Eagles in tracks like “Point Vincent” and “Removed.” Mostly, though, they emphasize instrumental textures and odd sonic embellishments, utilizing accordions, mandolins and vibraphones to add extra spice and shimmer.

The back cover photo of Spoke is a furrowing farm machine, and in the context of this recording, one might imagine clouds of birds following the machinery to eat up the disturbed insects.