Since parting company with Howe Gelb, their taskmaster in Giant Sand, Joey Burns and John Convertino have constructed a respectable body of spooky mood music heavily flavoured by the sounds of the U.S. southwest and the Mexican border.

Those flavours are still there, but Garden Ruin is a notable departure from albums like The Black Light and Feast of Wire. While previous work was happy to segue into sunbleached instrumental passages, following their work with Iron and Wine the duo and its accomplices have taken a turn to poppier singer/songwriter material.

While the band has sacrificed a bit of its individuality, the tighter focus suits it very well. There's still plenty of gentle acoustic drift, and those longing for the "old" Calexico at least have a guest turn from Amparo Sanchez to console them.

Fans of folk and country-influenced bands like Cuff the Duke, The Pernice Brothers and early Wilco or singer-songwriters like Ed Harcourt who haven't tuned in before now should check out Garden Ruin.

Track Listing:

1. Cruel
2. Yours and Mine
3. Bisbee Blue
4. Panic Open String
5. Letter to Bowie Knife
6. Roka
7. Lucky Dime
8. Smash
9. Deep Down
10. Nom De Plume
11. All Systems Red