I always mention how certain albums were like nothing I’d ever heard before or how the bands are the type that make you want to go out and form a band. I’ll probably continue to use these catch phrases but in the case of Calibretto it’s the most truthful statement.
As I’ve established multiple times in the past I was a bit of a Jesus Freak in high school. Most of my music was found through 5 Minute Walk, Tooth & Nail and BEC recordings comps. The best of these comps were Tooth & Nail’s Songs from the Penalty Box albums and a one shot called “Safety First”. I’ll never forget when Reese purchased Safety First and we listened to it in the car. We heard old familiar groups like Relient K and John Reuben, discovered bands like twothirtyeight, Further seems forever and Juliana Theory but the song that really grabbed our attention was Calibretto 13’s High Five.
It was punk music. Like real punk. It was dirty and raw and the guy couldn’t really sing that well. The only difference was that it was with acoustic guitars. It was a few years before I realized they were basically a christian version of Violent Femmes (which themselves were sort of a christian band, or at least the album Hollow Ground is). I found out they were going to be playing Creation Festival that year and I got excited to see them live. To hell with all the other artists, I want to see Calibretto.
They were amazing live. I immediately went to their tent and bought two of the three albums they had available (I really wish I had picked up all 3 though because From the Secret Files of the Danger Brigade continues to be a hard-to-find record for me). Unlike other christian artists I listened to, these guys had their own sound (again the Femmes sound) but they didn’t seem to give a fuck about how the audience saw them. They were crude, they spoke out against religions and churches, they called people sheep. It was really different than what I had seen previously.
It was punk music. Like real punk. It was dirty and raw and the guy couldn’t really sing that well. The only difference was that it was with acoustic guitars. It was a few years before I realized they were basically a christian version of Violent Femmes (which themselves were sort of a christian band, or at least the album Hollow Ground is). I found out they were going to be playing Creation Festival that year and I got excited to see them live. To hell with all the other artists, I want to see Calibretto.
They were amazing live. I immediately went to their tent and bought two of the three albums they had available (I really wish I had picked up all 3 though because From the Secret Files of the Danger Brigade continues to be a hard-to-find record for me). Unlike other christian artists I listened to, these guys had their own sound (again the Femmes sound) but they didn’t seem to give a fuck about how the audience saw them. They were crude, they spoke out against religions and churches, they called people sheep. It was really different than what I had seen previously.
Their masterpiece was their 2nd major label release Adventures in Tokyo. The first 4 songs the band powers through quick questioning why they’ll never be on MTV, telling the devil to go to hell and addressing the “sheep of America”. However the brilliant (and ballsy side) of Calibretto comes out in track 5 From Me to You. Our song’s narrator asks why should they be a christian if you’re a hypocrite, racist, homophobic and depressed. They touch on a similar topic later on with I’ll Talk To You Tomorrow.
My favorite track was The Proposal which is a musical version of lead singer Joe Whiteford’s proposal to his wife. The song is just a fun catchy little love song which Joe would prove to be quite good at writing in Calibretto’s last two EPs Dead By Dawn and All These Things Do Not Belong.
So why did this band change my life more than any band? Well they were the reason that the last band I was in broke up. Suddenly I heard the music I wanted to be playing. I eventually branched out on my own doing acoustic solo music under the name Saint Mort. While I get comparisons to Weird Al and Violent Femmes, the biggest influence on my music will always be Calibretto.
Joe Whiteford quit the band (thus ending them) and formed Harley Poe which followed in the vein of their last two EPs of focusing more on horror. He also started to incorporate non-Calibretto things like talking about sex, drugs and cursing more in songs. Their debut album In the Dark is a fantastic piece of acoustic-punk music in it’s own right. But it’ll never get as good as Calibretto 13: Adventures in Tokyo
I tweet. I run DollarMondayPromotions. I write for Geekscape.net (check out my guilty pleasure on Alien 3). And I host 2 podcasts (Saint Mort Show and Reddit Horror Club)
<--- 79. Brand New: Your Favorite Weapon
Joe Whiteford quit the band (thus ending them) and formed Harley Poe which followed in the vein of their last two EPs of focusing more on horror. He also started to incorporate non-Calibretto things like talking about sex, drugs and cursing more in songs. Their debut album In the Dark is a fantastic piece of acoustic-punk music in it’s own right. But it’ll never get as good as Calibretto 13: Adventures in Tokyo
I tweet. I run DollarMondayPromotions. I write for Geekscape.net (check out my guilty pleasure on Alien 3). And I host 2 podcasts (Saint Mort Show and Reddit Horror Club)
<--- 79. Brand New: Your Favorite Weapon
77. Anathallo: This Floating World ----->
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