Perhaps it’s clichéd to include the “indie Mariachi band” in a CDs of summer series. But, Calexico deserves some attention aside from being the band that recently collaborated with Iron & Wine for the much acclaimed In the Reins EP. Calexico has been making Southwestern-flavored alternative country music for sixteen years now, as any hardcore fan (or All Music Guide) could easily tell you. Discovering their records from their most accessible, this year’s Garden Ruin, and tracing back to 2003′s red-orange tinted A Feast of Wire and the fan-guiding compilation that is 2001′s Aerocalexico is enough to give even the most boring summer a hint of Zorroesque spice which could only find its way into an ordinary Midwestern life through a salsa class, a visit to an authentic Mexican restaurant, an adventure, a snakebite, or an ill-advised day wearing a cape.

While Calexico does mostly shed its characteristic mariachi feel for alt-country in the flavor of Ryan Adams, early Wilco, or the Patty Hurst Shifter (Listen to “Letter to Bowie Knife” and “Bisbee Blue”), that does not impede Garden Ruin‘s summertime status. Calexico captures that sweet, drink a beer, lie on the grass and watch fireflies flicker over your head feeling that can be found within all great alt-country. But it all simmers to a boil with their characteristic Calexico sound on “Roka,” which strips away the sweetness and broils itself with a smouldering sexuality that would impress the sexiest of sexy people (i.e., Prince).

Use this album as the soundtrack for lying on the grass late at night, counting everything that’s twinkly bright and sweet as you drink a light summer beer. It’s time to celebrate summer to its fullest.

Reviewed by Megan Giddings