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Album Details

• Artist: Iron and Wine/Calexico
• Album: In The Reins EP
• Label: Overcoat
• Year of Release: 2005
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2006-02-27

On the surface you might wonder what Sam Beam could do with Calexico's help. Well, I don't know if you know but the Calexico team is one of the most sought after rhythm and backing bands in indie rock today. I'm sure that they were more than honored to work with Sam. Beam initially penned all of the songs but Calexico takes them and becomes very comfortable with them. It's actually the the filling out by Calexico that makes In The Reins my favorite Iron and Wine albums. Although I enjoyed all that Beam has offered previously I got excited about the prospect of having a band behind him. The country swagger is apparent on numerous tracks. My favorite is the driving "History Of Lovers". In all honesty there isn't a bad song on this set of 7 tracks. The groove of "Red Dust" will be another one that is hard to beat. I do hope that the two parties feel that this effort was successful and that they do a full-length. I might also suggest that the two groups do a collaboration where Calexico pens the songs.

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