Giant Giant Sand, Flash Flood and the Dikes

[SUN-BAKED COUNTRY] Fans of Arizona's long-running Giant Sand might look at that name and think it's either a typo or the result of some kind of legal schism within the band, but then, anyone familiar with the group knows such a breach could only happen if singer-songwriter Howe Gelb suffered a total schizophrenic break from reality and decided to sue himself. Since 1988, the band has operated essentially as a one-man show, with Gelb firing and rehiring musicians at his leisure and recording pretty much whatever the hell whim dictated at the moment. His albums have run the gamut, from the Neil Young-ish guitar implosions to sun-scorched alt-country to borderline stoner metal, though his best-loved material serves as a desert-mad precursor to the rootsy experimentalism of fellow statesmen Calexico (whose members have done time backing Gelb). For his latest, Tucson, the Pennsylvania native called upon a dozen players—hence the double Giants—to help create what he's subtitled "A Country Rock Opera," a panoramic ode to his adopted hometown.