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Album Reviews

Calibretto, formerly Calibretto 13 of Tooth and Nail Records, seem to have turned over a new leaf as they join the Standard Recording Co. roster. Eschewing the usual Christian-based subject matter of previous releases and former label mates, they are now writing about freaks, killers and stalkers on their latest EP, Dead By Dawn. Don’t fret, I don’t think Calibretto has changed religions, as it’s all done with a playfulness that gives the EP a comic book/B movie feel.

The music eludes description, but quirky and distortion-less punkabilly isn’t far off. Flourishes of organ blend with knee slapping rhythms, punchy acoustic guitar and scale ascending bass lines while handclaps, bells and chimes are not out of the question.

Dead By Dawn brings me back to my junior high days when The Violent Femmes and Dead Milkmen were two of my staples. The odd rhythms of the guitars, the wiry drums and especially the vocals could cause one to mistake it for an early Violent Femmes record.

While I’m not one to enjoy clone bands, I am thoroughly enjoying Dead By Dawn. Everything is quick and tight and changes are flawless. My quirky side is in heaven while my more serious side is lapping up Calibretto’s musicianship. Joseph Whiteford (drums, chimes, bells, percussion, vocals), Chris Thomas (guitars, vocals), and Aaron Richardson (bass, vocals) deftly ramble through ghost towns, haunted houses and dark forests, bravely facing all evil that lurks and reemerge unscathed.

~Michael

I'd never listened to Calibretto before receiving this album to review. Apparently they've taken a darker, more ominous turn this time around, but it's kind of hard to tell. The opener, "Come See the Meatboy," features an extended sample of sinister laughter from Evil Dead 2 (that film's subtitle also being this album's namesake) behind some off-kilter, frenetic circus waltz-punk. "Bleeding on the Floor" is rhythmically the same as the first track, but it's saved from monotony by singer Joseph Whiteford's helium heightened Gordon Gano wail. The two best songs, however, are the happy, scrappy hero pop of "When I Think About You" and "American Psycho" (an ode to the book and film of the same name, complete with lifted dialogue from the film for the song's intro and outro).

Even with these invigorating songs, Calibretto are too precious to be threatening and too morbid to be playful. The end result is twee-rated Murder City Devils songs played by a keyboard happy Violet Femmes, which actually is kind of scary if you think about it.

~ Aaron Shaul

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