Concept albums are notoriously fiendish undertakings. Most often they are an embarrassment, the sort of thing that artists blush about and PR reps write off as youthful indulgence.

If successful, however, the combination of narrative and music can be transforming. Lou Reed's "Berlin" (with a little help from David Bowie's "Heroes" and Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life") metamorphosed that city from a center of Nazi atrocities and Cold War conflict to an alluring melange of angsty countercultural cool.

Arizona group Calexico's "The Black Light" has done the same for the sleepy towns of the U.S.-Mexican border. Conjuring the musical equivalent of pulp fiction, "The Black Light" rewrites the dusty back roads and decayed tract housing into a beguiling otherworld. Angelic cholo sisters, bad drugs, urban scrawl and gun battles wash up against a musical soundscape of throaty steel guitars and melancholic accordion licks as "The Black Light" follows a young man's misadventures through the seamy, spicy world of Mexicali.

The name of the band itself is something of a story of misadventure too, though of a more benign kind. Founded by indie popsters Giant Sand's rhythm section, John Covertino and Joey Burns, Calexico began as a musical response to living in an old Mexican district of Tucson. After months of home recording, the twosome took to the road, determined not to return home until they had found a name for their project. They finally ran out of gas in Calexico, Calif. The name stuck.

Though "The Black Light" basks in a musical legacy that draws as much from spaghetti western soundtracks as Los Lobos, the style is anything but retro. Calexico's spacious yet complex instrumentation reflects prog-rock revivalists such as Tortoise with touches of dub and DJ culture.

Originally the duo had planned to use a fair bit of sampling on the album. Finding the legal hassles too onerous, they ended up instead making a separate set of tunes that were then sampled and used on "The Black Light."

Their creative arrangement explains, somewhat, the oddity of the record being released on Saidera Records in Japan. Thus far, Saidera has mainly been an outlet for the work of Seigen Ono, whose output of Brazilian-inflected records should qualify him for honorary citizenship.

Though at first Calexico might seem a jarring change of gears, in fact both Ono and Calexico approach music in much the same synthetic way. Moreover, Ono has been an enthusiastic supporter of new music with the Boredoms, Museum of Plate and various Sublime Records artists using his tiny studio in Gaienmae.

Music of this sort requires a large cast of musicians and Calexico concerts are famous for a stage crowded with horn and string players as well as the basic rock 'n' roll outfit, which means that a tour of Japan will probably have to wait for a while. Fortunately, Saidera is preparing to release their newest album, "Hot Rail," later this year.

Though not the first Japanese garage band (and, some would argue, not the best), Thee Michelle Gun Elephant has certainly become the best known. With harder rock acts like Potshot and Hi Standard selling oodles of records, the Elephant boys have also thrown their hat into the mainstream ring with their latest single, "GT400."

Lovers of TMGE's dirty, bluesy punk are bound to be disappointed by this offering. "GT400" is at best watered-down for the mainstream and lacks even a foot-tapping pop hook to keep things interesting. The chorus, too, is decidedly annoying. As singer Yusuke Chiba croons "I want the motorcycle" for the umpteenth time, one fervently hopes he gets his wish and shuts up.

Luckily the flip side (if CD singles can be said to have one) falls squarely back into classic Elephant territory. "Mona Lisa" is nasty blues injected with the wallop of punk frenzy that has made girls pant and boys imitate Elephant's mod-meets-gangster style.

Rumor is that the Elephant's new album tends more toward this end of things. Tokyo fans can preview their newer offerings at the Black List event this weekend. The Black List is shaping up to be a veritable festival of bluesy punk, featuring fellow aficionados Blankey Jet City (last year's single "Dillinger" was as nasty and raucous as it gets) and the granddaddy of Japanese garage rock, Jackie and the Cedrics.

The Black List 001, with Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Gyogun Rends, the Hong Kong Knife, King Brothers and DJ Daddy O, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. at Zepp Tokyo; 3,500 yen. The Black List 002, with Blankey Jet City, Jackie and the Cedrics, Mad 3 and Sorrow, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. at Zepp Tokyo; 3,500 yen. For more information, contact Disc Garage at (03) 5436-9600.