Calexico offers post-rock indie spice at Union Transfer

Burns, lacquer-haired and boyishly handsome as usual, was in fine voice, and Covertino, bespectacled and flashing a cat-that-swallowed-the-canary grin, delivered a master class in precision, vibe, and economy from behind the drum kit. Performing before a backdrop emblazoned with the new album's Van Goghesque seascape cover art, Calexico ran down about 20 selections from their nine extant albums with typical elan. There were the gorgeous, set-opening "Epic," the lilting mariachi waltz of "Across the Wire," the faintly menacing "El Picador," the moody shimmer of "Dead Moon," and the set-closing "Vanishing Mind." The highlight of the night, however, was a crowd-pleasing cover of "Alone Again Or," from Love's landmark   1967 album , Forever Changes.

It's a worrying sign when your best song is a cover. And that brings us to my only complaint about these guys: Despite the impeccable pedigree and the faultless execution, Calexico's songs manage to hold the moment, but not much beyond that. But if it's any consolation, there was ample evidence Friday night that Calexico's version of "Alone Again Or" actually improved on the original, Exhibit A being the way Jacob Valenzuela and Martin Wenk utterly nailed the song's signature horn charts.