Said and Done

A thoroughly country-fied album from the Tejano accordion legend Flaco Jimenez. The album runs back and forth from pure Tejano to pure country, with little action in the middle ground. It starts out with the simple, bouncy "De Bolon Pin Pon," then moves into the title track, with a thick zydeco music structure but a twangy country vocal layer over the top. "I Always Want to Be With You" moves back to a more recognizable Tejano sound, and "SoulMates" brings out an interesting mix, as Tejano music attempts to fuse with surf rock a bit. It comes across rather incoherently, but it's interesting that it was tried at all. "Recuerda" stays in the more proper Tejano realm, while "Te Amare" almost has a tinge of tango in it. Continuing the back-and-forth nature of the album, "La Felicidad" returns to fully bouncing Tejano again, and "I'm Not Finished Bein' a Fool" goes deep into country territory as it celebrates bachelor life. "A Jugar Con las Munecas" is another nice Tejano piece, and "Los Ninos" stands as a quiet ballad only partially accompanied by Jimenez's accordion. It's a rather short album, finishing in under half an hour, but it's worth hearing for fans of Jimenez who haven't heard much outside of his straightforward Tex-Mex before. Give it a listen or two.