Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Burns, who was studying music at the University of California, Irvine, met up with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour.
Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. John and Joey formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of Victoria Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.
Calexico first recorded Spoke in 1995 for German independent label Hausmusik with a limited edition of 2,000 copies. At that point the band was still called Spoke and the album was technically self-titled. After the band signed with Quarterstick Records (a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records) and changed their name to Calexico, Spoke was reissued by that label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and Lisa Germano on the album Slush released under the name OP8 that same year.
Their second album The Black Light was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the desert of Arizona and northern Mexico and received excellent reviews, with the critic from the Wall Street Journal rating it as one of the best records of the year.
The band built their profile by touring as support acts for bands such as Pavement, the Dirty Three and Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Hurricane Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. The Road Map album was a limited recording released in 1999 for sale only at Calexico's live shows.
Calexico released its third album Hot Rail in May 2000 featuring the addition of horns and violin to their sound. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on a Giant Sand record called Chore of Enchantment as well as a tour only record Travelall.
At the end of 2000, Burns and Convertino joined with two French friends Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhôm to record "Tête A Tête" (Wabana Records, 2001) released under moniker ABBC (Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino). Calexico released two collections of rarities during 2001. Even My Sure Things Fall Through collected outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in the US. The album also featured Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently played live with the duo. The Aerocalexico album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001.
The Scraping live album was released in 2002. Their next studio recording Feast of Wire was released in 2003 and made the charts for the first time appearing on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent album chart. They made their first video for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from Feast of Wire. They released a live DVD in 2004 called World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican. The song "Güero Canelo", from Feast of Wire, was featured in Michael Mann's Film, Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, in which the band appears.
Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down the Spark" to Nancy Sinatra's self-titled album in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as a musical influence. The song was released in the UK as the second single from the album in early 2005.
In 2005, Calexico joined up with Miami-based band Iron & Wine. Howard Greynolds of Overcoat Records was responsible for bringing the two bands together having previously been responsible for Tortoise and Will Oldham recording together. The In the Reins EP was released in September 2005 and received a positive reception with an MSNBC review giving it honorable mention. It also made an appearance in the Billboard 200 album charts, becoming their first recording to make the album charts, and No. 12 on the independent charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record.
Released in 2006, Garden Ruin is Calexico's fifth studio album and was produced by JD Foster. The sound strays slightly from earlier works, focusing less on the horn section, and placing more emphasis on guitar and vocal tracks, giving the whole album a more mainstream sound.
In 2007, Calexico was invited by Arcade Fire to record a cover of their "Ocean of Noise." This recording was used as the B-side for Arcade Fire's "Intervention" single, originally released on vinyl on May 21, 2007. Also in 2007, Calexico recorded a revamped version of the Bob Dylan song "Goin' to Acapulco" for the Dylan biopic "I'm Not There". The song featured Jim James of My Morning Jacket on vocals and was featured on the soundtrack of the film.
Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, have been used as interstitial and background music on Public Radio International's This American Life. Their songs "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 German comedy movie Lammbock.
Their sixth studio LP is called 'Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in the USA via Touch & Go Records on September 9, 2008. The album enjoyed solid reviews, with hometown paper the Arizona Daily Star praising the band's "ability to sweep you into its world, taking listeners to the American Southwest. This is one of the reasons Europeans love Calexico and others in this country are beginning to come around."
On October 16, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake".
In 2009, the song Banderilla was featured in an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad.
In 2010, a new album of Calexico was released: the soundtrack of the documentary "Circo". The band also spent part of 2010 touring with Arcade Fire along the west US coast.
In May 2011, their song "Slowness" was dedicated by Gabrielle Giffords to her husband astronaut Mark Kelly as the wake up song aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.
Algiers was released 11 September 2012 on ANTI Records and CITY SLANG (Europe).
In April 2014, the band began referring to a new album on Twitter in posts from Mexico City, Coyoacan, Mexico, and Athens, Greece. Edge of the Sun was announced on 27 January 2015, and released on April 14, 2015. The album features guest appearances by various artists such as Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Gaby Moreno, Carla Morrison and members of the Greek instrumental group Takim.
The current members of Calexico are:
Joey Burns – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, piano, keyboards, accordion, percussion, vibraphone
John Convertino – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, accordion
Paul Niehaus – steel guitar, guitars
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone, theremin (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Volker Zander – standup bass, electric bass
Live tour 2013:
Joey Burns - vocals, guitars
John Convertino - drums, percussion
Sergio Mendoza - Keyboards
Jairo Zavala - bazouki, baritone guitar, vocals
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Ryan Alfred - bass, vocals
Missing
Calexico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From your nightmarish day with the dead trip
You'd be better off not to know
Of the wild seeds you let go
From your thorny fingertips
Try to clean bloodstained hands
That ran away and left the scene
Always thought you stood on the other side
Never thought the roof would cave in
Where you were hiding
There's a wave of fear that creeps right in
A vacant stare that can't say where it's been
Or what's been laced,
The trail leads all over the place
There's an angel at your side
Who rescued you in a nick of time
Explains how you almost fell
And vanished into a fatal spell
She looks into your eyes and sees
There's something still missing
She notices a chunk bleeding from your chest
Tries to stop the bloodflow with her best compress
But the wreckage is in a mess
There's an emotional tax, figured in after the facts
And stories unfold
The world grows dark and bones get cold
You look into your heart and you know
There's something still missing
Calexico's "Missing" is a hauntingly beautiful song whose lyrics, although cryptic, portray an intense sense of longing and regret. The song describes a person who has experienced something traumatic and has lost a part of themselves in the process. The opening line, "Wake up now little sleepyhead" sets the tone of the song right away, summoning the listener to a dark and unsettling state of mind. The singer, who seems to be in a state of shock, is urged to wake up from his nightmarish day with the dead trip.
The lyrics suggest that the singer has been involved in some sort of crime, as he tries to clean his bloodstained hands, which ran away and left the scene. He always thought he stood on the other side and never thought the roof would cave in where he was hiding. This could imply he is a criminal who has been caught in the act of committing the crime. The feelings of guilt and regret are palpable throughout the song, as the singer is haunted by his memories and the things he left behind.
The image of an angel rescuing the singer in a nick of time adds to the surreal and dreamlike quality of the song. The angel tries to stop the bleeding from his chest but notices that something is still missing. Perhaps this missing chunk from his chest represents the loss of innocence or his shattered sense of self.
Overall, "Missing" is a haunting and deeply emotional song that speaks to the human condition of loss and longing.
Line by Line Meaning
Wake up now little sleepyhead
It's time to wake up from your nightmare and face reality.
From your nightmarish day with the dead trip
You had a terrible experience yesterday and it's haunting you.
You'd be better off not to know
Sometimes ignorance is bliss and knowing the truth won't change anything.
Of the wild seeds you let go
The consequences of your actions are now beyond your control.
From your thorny fingertips
You knew what you were doing was wrong, but you did it anyway.
Try to clean bloodstained hands
You are trying to erase the evidence of your past mistakes.
That ran away and left the scene
You would rather forget everything and start anew.
Of a crime last night
You did something terrible last night.
Always thought you stood on the other side
You never thought you would be the one on the wrong side of the law.
Never thought the roof would cave in
You never thought you would be caught and face the consequences of your actions.
Where you were hiding
You thought you were safe, but you were wrong.
There's a wave of fear that creeps right in
You feel scared and vulnerable.
A vacant stare that can't say where it's been
You are at a loss for words to explain your actions.
Or what's been laced,
You are not sure if you were under the influence of something.
The trail leads all over the place
There are many clues that can link you to the crime.
There's an angel at your side
Someone is helping you through this difficult time.
Who rescued you in a nick of time
Someone saved you from harm just in time.
Explains how you almost fell
They describe the danger you were in and how you were fortunate to be saved.
And vanished into a fatal spell
You narrowly avoided a disastrous situation.
She looks into your eyes and sees
The person helping you sees something missing in you.
There's something still missing
Despite everything that has happened, there is something you are lacking emotionally.
She notices a chunk bleeding from your chest
She sees that you are wounded and hurt.
Tries to stop the bloodflow with her best compress
She does her best to help you heal from your wounds.
But the wreckage is in a mess
The situation is complicated and difficult to fix.
There's an emotional tax, figured in after the facts
The emotional toll of the situation only becomes apparent after the event.
And stories unfold
As more is uncovered, more stories come to light.
The world grows dark and bones get cold
The situation becomes increasingly bleak and hopeless.
You look into your heart and you know
You realize that something is missing from your life.
There's something still missing
Despite everything that has happened, there is something you are lacking emotionally.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: James Thomas Smith, Oliver Sim, Romy Anna Madley Croft
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@hippiejaveln2659
Wake up now little sleepyhead
From your nightmarish day with the dead trip
You'd be better off not to know
Of the wild seeds you let go
From your thorny fingertips
Try to clean the bloodstained hands
That ran away and left the scene of the crime last night
Always stood on the other side
Never thought the roof would cave in where you were hiding
There's a wave of fear that creeps right in
A vacant stare that can't say where it's been
Or what's been laced
The trail leads all over the place
There's an angel at your side
Who rescued you in the nick of time
Explains how you almost fell
And vanished into a fatal spell
She looks into your eyes and sees
There's something still missing
,Something's still missing,
,,Still missing,,
She notices a chunk bleeding from your chest
Tries to stop the bloodflow with her best compress
But the wreckage is in a mess
An emotional tax figured in after the facts
And stories unfold
The world grows dark and bones get cold
You look into your heart and you know
There's something still missing
,Something's still missing,
,,Still missing,,
@rathethird
Great Band!!! Great Music!!!! Alternative Country? Indie Rock? Desert Noir?? They could be from everywhere or nowhere..... Their music is universal, without limits..... Rathethird from Lisbon, Portugal
@Hayamoto120
Im your first fan from Algeria , your music owned my heart , it made me travel freely from within .
@charlessandino1102
This whispering singing style reminds me of " Walk on the Wild Side " by Lou Reed from way back in the 70's.
@snieni
Great Calexico!
@elisavieira737
Beautiful thanks
@TheStephaniez
λατρεύω ! υπέροχο!
@TheKitkatgold
ME likey! Thank you for sharing...
@dianeaerts5777
Blonde redhead
@Natalona
I like so much!! good music
@didoma73
dark and brooding, perfect after a dreary day ;[