Vamos A Guarachar!

Something is stirring in downtown Tucson. That's no great surprise perhaps: Calexico have been sending out missives from the desert for 20 years now, Giant Sand for even longer than that, and the Green on Red revival is surely overdue.

These three giants of American popular music ask questions of the form, chiefly because of where they are situated. Let us remind ourselves that this isn't a big city in the American sense (it's the country's 33rd largest), but that its hinterland is indeed as big as it gets. For an hour south, Mexico starts. And this is where things get interesting.

¡Vamos Guarachar! is another beast entirely: by turns raucous ("Cumbia Volcadora", featuring Mexican electronic pioneer Camilo Lara), tender ("Misterio", surely Salvador Duran's finest moment with the band so far) and plain serious fun, as in "Contra La Marea" and "Mapache", it also bears a robust electronic edge, a keen pop sensibility and all the hallmarks of Mendoza's love of 60s rock, with the closing track, "Shadows of the Mind", sure to be included if anyone decides to update the Nuggets collection for the 21st century.

This is roundabout way of saying that it appears to have everything, but never too much of anything. Focused, fierce and beautifully executed by a superbly drilled set of musicians, it is a record that fully matches the band's explosive live performances.

LP - 180 Gram Vinyl in Gatefold Sleeve with Download.