***Del Rio is the third album from the Austin triumvirate of guitarist Craig Clouse (Shit and Shine), bassist Nate Cross (Marriage, Expensive Shit) and drummer King Coffey (Butthole Surfers) and the band’s first release to feature vocals from Colby Brinkman (Taverner). While their two prior albums (2017’s Laredo and 2019’s Matamoros) were somewhere on the periphery of rock music, Del Rio is a step or several beyond and a real testament to human imagination (maybe you’re impressed by Tesla Powerwall batteries but that’s because you’ve not heard “Soft Taco,” yet). Coming off a pair of records their respective labels could barely keep in stock and critical assessments that put reviewers’ own chops to the test (see below), USA/Mexico have delivered their most fully realized statement to date.
LP $17.75
03/19/2021
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received a 7.3 rating from Pitchfork. "As a young person I frequently heard tales that high-end stereo shoppes used Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon as a demonstration disc, in order to fully document the prowess of their impossibly-expensive wares. I rarely frequented any of these establishments but always took these stories on faith. I’m no audio guru, but it seems to me that someone attempting to do the same thing in 2019 could do a whole lot worse than adopting USA/Mexico’s long-awaited 2nd album, Matamoros for similar purposes. The trio’s first album 2017’s Laredo might’ve been a worthy candidate for a test-spin in the Bang and Olufsen showroom, but the successor is the sort of record that really makes if you’re the sort of person who can appreciate the BACKES MÜLLER BM 100 loudspeaker (list price $500,000.00 USD). Once you’re comfortably settled in, you’ll find that the all-star team of guitarist CRAIG CLOUSE (SHIT & SHINE) drummer KING COFFEY (BUTTHOLE SURFERS) and NATE CROSS (MARRIAGE, WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH) have done everything possible to help you expand your sonic palette—some might say they’ve even done too much! Either way, these guys are as unselfish as they are loud. Or perhaps they’re as selfish as they’re quiet—I do hope you’ll agree their motives are less important than the results, and in this instance, those results are nothing less than a staggering sensory overload.
LP $17.95
04/26/2019
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The long-awaited/rumored/feared debut recordings from Austin, TX trio USA/MEXICO are finally upon us. Guitarist CRAIG CLOUSE (SHIT & SHINE, TODD), drummer KING COFFEY (BUTTHOLE SURFERS, RUBBLE, HUGH BEAUMONT EXPERIENCE) and bassist NATE CROSS (MARRIAGE, WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH, EXPENSIVE SHIT) have somehow created a musical landscape that exceeds present day reality for absurdity and nightmarishness. There's faint (oh ok, try "loud") echoes of their past works but their combined forces have resulted in an album as bludgeoning and all-encompassing as any that's occupied shelf space in my home or yours. Five originals plus deadly dense covers of The Fall's "L.A." and Drunks WIth Guns spinoff Bullets For Pussy's "Bullets For Pussy." No Export to UK/EU.
LP $15.50
07/10/2017