Calvinball

calvinball - luca

4/17/2014

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Calvinball

Luca
self-released; 2014

3.4 out of 5

By Demiera Harris
There’s something really special about albums that were written and performed by just one person: you can hear nuances you can’t hear otherwise. Typically, you get a good picture of the artist’s full musical abilities, as they play a wide range of instruments to create just the right sound they were going for. Calvinball’s Luca is no exception to this rule.

“Blush” starts off with nice guitar work – I like the deep twang. His voice is different; it sounds pretty good, and fits particularly well with the overall tone of this song. It’s acoustic and pretty simple enough while still being interesting. Three minutes in the listener is treated to this interlude that I can only describe as sexy – the sharps and flats sound so nice here. The tone changes with the high-energy song “Mirage.” There are some nice melodic guitar chords and the riff is awesome, especially when it gets to shine on its own. I like the guttural scream; that was a pretty cool surprise.

“Reveries in F” is a beautiful piano piece! It caught my heart from the very first note. Unfortunately it’s the shortest song, but it packs quite a punch. “Life in the Strid” was jarring after the sweet beauty of the previous song, but still sounded really cool. The guitar kept my attention the entire time; the different rhythms used were so good, and the story the guitar told was so interesting that I couldn’t stop paying attention! I just loved listening to his fingers fly across the strings.

I was afraid I wouldn’t get another piano song, but “Ultraviolet Nocturne” satisfied my hunger for more. I am always impressed when I hear compositional piano pieces, and this is no exception. I like that there was a song between this and the other piano song; it is not a direct follow up to the first but still does a fantastic job of growing the seed planted earlier.

“Teeth Dreams” is gritty with dark undertones. There’s this ominous tone around it even though there is a lot of fleeting, high notes that give it an airy feel. I like how the melody jumps from one scale to the next, encompassing a lot of complementary sounds during vocal breaks. The final song “Trauma Doll” is aptly named, as it brings to mind those creepy porcelain dolls with an eye missing. The piano chords set the tone, Calvinball’s vocals add a bit of color, and the background noise (I hesitate to call it ambient) brings it all together. I enjoyed this song a lot.

I really, really enjoyed listening to the guitar and piano – so much so that I would be interested in hearing a fully instrumental album. There are some points where it seemed the vocals took away from the overall composition, and others where they seemed added on simply to round the songs out. I still appreciate the role the vocals played, though. On the whole, this is a collection of really good songs that I had a good time listening to. - The Equal Ground

Patrick S. Barry isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Progressive/alternative rock will always have a place in my heart and others. It’s his talent as a multi-instrumentalist that really took me for surprise. When someone emails FTWELVE “I do it all by myself” I expect to hear a lot more of…that synth stuff that’s all the scene. Instead, what I got was a creative but easy listening album with some serious rock.

The first track, “Blush” had me traveling back to the late 90s when I was first diversifying myself from my father’s taste in music (James Taylor, John Denver, folk-ish) and I was experimenting with Weezer. I was impressed by Calvinball from the first few notes in his first efforts with Luca.

On the second track, “Mirage”, Barry turns up the noise. Filled with some serious yelling & guitar solos, it’s good. What ties it together to the first track is the continuation of a catchy chorus that makes you want to sing along.

“Reveries in F” – Live: Wait, the piano? Where did this come from? I’m confused but not put off. I needed this calming tune after the last rocker.. this is pretty beautiful. I enjoyed this mid-album 1 min 44 second interlude more than I ever thought I would.

I noticed this song was about 8 minutes long before I listened to I hunkered down to see if that was really worth it. It felt like two different song meshed together. I personally prefer a short tune but that’s my bias. Nevertheless, Barry’s talent is also shown in “Life in the Strid.”

“Ultraviolent Nocturne” began with the piano again where I think Barry is really strong. A calm but eerie tune, this song is really wonderful but it begins to make the album feel almost disjointed. Is Calvinball rock? Perhaps adding this slow and simple nature to the rock songs would unite the album better.

I’d listened to “Teeth Dreams” before and it reminded me more of the first track than anything I had recently heard. My foot was tapping and I enjoyed this track.

The last track was “Trauma Doll” which was what I was waiting for – Barry’s voice combined with the noise, piano all in one emotional ending to a great first album. - Ftwelve Music

There’s no denying the prog-rock prowess of Calvinball’s debut release—not with its seamless meter changes and temperamental rhythmic shifts bobbing and weaving through each tune, nor with its dreamy chord sequences that go far beyond the confines of the “three chords and the truth” paradigm. Of course, there’s also the orchestral array of zany guitar sounds, as well, that’s also part of the prog-rock pantheon—from the sharp sting of harmonics to the buzz of feedback, from whammy-heavy chord-punches to the megalomaniacal lead guitar virtuosity. Yet, with the plucky basslines and lush guitar foliage that shades most of the album in pangs of wistful concord, I’m reminded more of Jeff Buckley’s Grace than Yes or King Crimson. I think what really stands out about this album is that always, amidst the drop-D deluge of guitar sludge and dizzying meter-mashing pitter-patter, there are moments of striking ascetic serenity that are all the sweeter for their brevity. Like the fragile piano piece that briefly plods along on its lonely way as mellotron strings pine in the background before erupting back into the distortion-heavy musical mayhem. All in all, these are outstanding compositions made all the more impressive for being the sole cogitations of a lone mad man who performed practically all the instruments himself, and probably ’cause he couldn’t find anyone who could keep up. - The Noise