not a bunch of throwaway tracks, an essential own...

Alone Again Or-cover of 60's band Love, very good, got a vintage brass/folk rock sound, very happy which underlies a darker lyric

Besides all this its got a nifty bonus track of the cartoon El Kabong rides Again set to the tune of Minus De Cobra

If you already like Calexico, you'll enjoy this EP. It's all good, solid Calexico sound. In particular, the song "Convict Pool" is majestic. I was listening to it this morning, amazed they could make so much sound from just a nylon-string guitar and a drum kit. John Convertino is one of the coolest, most interesting drummers in rock today! I also really like "Corona", a Minutemen cover. The other tracks, both covers and originals, are pretty standard Calexico fare. The El Kabong video is a nice bonus, but not something you'll listen to over and over like the cd.

If you're new to Calexico, this is a good place to start, but i think the album "Feast of Wire" is significantly better.

I'm not exceptionally well-versed in Calexico, this is my first purchase. Whether that makes you consider this review "pure" or "uninformed" is up to you.

The E.P. starts off fantastic, with a cover of Love's opening song from their classic "Forever Changes" album, "Alone Again Or." I can see what all the Calexico hype is about -- the parts are all clearly and confidently played, the hybridization and novelty are original and unique. Title song "Convict Pool" follows in equally as satisfying form. "Si Tu Disais" is immediate, like the other songs well-recorded and the obvious work of skilled, craftsman-like minds. I'm impressed -- the machinery of my built-in anti-hype stance is being quietly and effectively dismantled. I could sincerely recommend this to any number of friends with a clear conscience.

It's with the cover song "Corona" that it starts to unravel a bit for me. The stop-start beginning, impassioned horns and steel guitar swoop a little too close to genre parody, yet at the same time it's entirely delightful -- like an old friend showing up and bringing a festive crowd along with him (who cares if their boom box is pumping out cliches and overstatements?) The Tejano song-stylings wear a little thin here, honestly; as a person intimately familiar with "Double Nickels On The Dime" this treatment of Corona is pretty obvious. Not to mention it falls squarely into the been-done-before category (see Overwhelming Colorfast's Spanish-language version on the "Our Band Could Be Your Life" tribute CD). My misgivings with the almost parody levels of faux-Mexicana heaped onto this song are reinforced by the Cartoon Network "El Kabong Rides Again" video short that is included on the EP as a (low resolution) multi-media extra. Mexican stereotypes are overplayed and I hope this is not a defining feature of Calexico or I'll find them insufferable.

The following song "Praskovia" attempts to divert my attention from the racial-profiling of "Corona" with a side-trip to Eastern Europe but very similar instrumentation. The novelty of teasing indie-rock out of Tejano/Gypsy music/Klezmer etc. was played out long before Zach Condon showed up on the scene and made it freshly trendy. Help -- I'm starting to get disillusioned!

Closing song "Sirena" is nimble enough to redeem the E.P. in my estimation. It's still heavily indebted to a Marty Robbins/spaghetti western vibe-smithing and everything I find disquieting about the portrayal of Mexican culture (by Americans), but I have to remind myself that Calexico backed up Richard Buckner on his superb, wrenching divorce album "Devotion + Doubt." This E.P. is of an entirely different character than that record -- uplifting and driving in it's acoustic, horn-augmented delivery, trickier to grasp in its deft, non-committal lyricism. It should be noted that this is largely a covers E.P., and a darn good one at that. There is clearly a theatrical aesthetic at work here, and I can accept that without getting too caught up in what is starting to look like an authenticity rift.

Calexico are clearly a band of great sensitivity and skill. They could work on their subtlety. In the end, the positives and negatives of the "Convict Pool" E.P. even out for me -- I do plan on playing it again, sharing it with friends, and enjoying it. I'm glad I sampled this band with this purchase, and although I'm not entirely won over I suspect I will take in the rest of their catalog at a leisurely pace. For all my critiques, I do keep listening to "Convict Pool," and that's the true litmus test.

Like much of Calexico work, this album has a way of growing on you. The first time you play it, you may think, "Oh, this isn't half-bad. I'll just finish out listening to it this one time..." Then a dozen spins later you realize that you just can't stop listening. Every time around, you'll find a new inflection of the guitar, a new inspiring line. Gracefully, it will crawl into your heart and make a cozy home in there.

This album's production is not as refined as their better known albums, such as Black Light and Feast of Wire, but the rougher studio sound only makes this more charming and endearing. It adds that feeling that perhaps you are not listening to a CD, but are rather fortunate to catch Calexico in a small bar, and Joe Burns is playing his guitar just a few feet away from you. And, really, Calexico is a band that should be enjoyed live.

Yep, I'm in love with this.