Collisions

by Calla

Product Description:

Calla: Aurelio Valle (vocals, guitar); Peter Gannon (guitar, bass guitar); Wayne Magruder (drums, sampler).

Recording information: 2005.

Like its British counterpart, Doves, Calla is a rock trio that has largely abandoned its electronic roots in favor of a more straight-ahead guitar-heavy sound. On 2005's COLLISIONS, the Brooklyn-based band mines a dark, brooding vein, allowing guitarist/singer Aurelio Valle to conjure up alternately dreamy and blistering riffs that are complemented by his sullen lyrics and cool, detached vocals. While the urgent opener, "It Dawned on Me," fiercely surges forward, much of COLLISIONS, particularly the hazy "Pulverized," is a down-tempo affair that occasionally settles into shoegazer atmospherics. While fans of the group's earliest work may be a bit bewildered by Calla's more direct guitar/bass/drums approach here, these tracks are intriguing enough to pull in most skeptics and will appeal to many aficionados of moody indie-rock.