In addition to Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, Melbourne recently played host to US band Calexico. Given the hype surrounding those pop divas, you’d be forgiven for not noticing the latter’s sell-out concerts at the Recital Centre.

Calexico photo sourced from Melbourne Recital Centre

After nearly 30 years and as many albums, Calexico have a deep back catalogue to draw on, but the focus on the current tour is their 2002 album, “Feast of Wire”, featured in full alongside a few of their greatest hits and a couple of inspired cover versions.

My interest in Calexico stems from the late 1990s, via their involvement with a couple of other bands, Giant Sand and The Friends of Dean Martinez. Alongside these and other groups such as Lambchop and Wilco, Calexico brought a fresh perspective to Americana – that strand of North American music that has its roots in Alt Country, but which eschews many of the conservative (even regressive) styles and values of mainstream country and western music. What sets these bands apart is their willingness to embrace other musical influences, and explore more experimental sounds.

Calexico themselves have collaborated with a range of DJs and producers for some inspired remixes, and have featured on compilation albums alongside their US post-rock counterparts as well as European electronic artists. So quite eclectic company. In fact, Calexico’s own music incorporates Tex-Mex, Mariachi, dub and electronica, Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks, Tortoise-style instrumental arrangements, Tindersticks’ atmospherics, and Tijuana trumpets. Having been to California a few times myself (including a road trip from LA to northern Mexico), and having visited Colorado and New Mexico last year, Calexico’s music readily evokes memories of the Anza-Borrego desert, the border town of Tecate, the Skytrain from Santa Fe to Lamy, and the hills of the Tejon Pass.

Live, the core duo of Joey Burns and John Convertino handle vocals/guitar and drums respectively, while a team of four multi-instrumentalists take care of bass, guitar, keyboards, vibes, trumpets and accordions. The technical production is great, and like many visiting musicians, the band enjoy playing with the superb acoustics of the Recital Hall itself.

As for the night’s cover versions, there were two: Love’s “Alone Again Or”, a minor hit for Calexio when first released as a non-album single, and which perfectly suits their “Sounds of the South-West”; and Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, a song I hadn’t heard played live since one of Joy Division’s last gigs in 1980, and which prompts some emotional audience participation – a brave choice!

Next week: Ageing Rockers