Revenge of Calculon

One band I saw recently for the first time, who had me frothing like a loon after just a few pints, and practically shitting with delight after a few more, were Nottingham’s Revenge of Calculon. Amazingly though, they turned out to be a relatively rare beast – a great band to witness live, even when as moderately drunk as a bastard, and just as entertaining when listened to via Soundcloud the next day, whilst eating a hangover busting bacon sandwich.

So what makes Revenge of Calculon such an intriguing musical prospect with or without the aid of grog? Well, the answer is two fold. First of all, they have tunes. Huge, gravel coated electro-synth-pop tunes that dig into the brain like those ear weevil things from Star Trek 2-The Wrath of Khan. Once heard, you are powerless to resist, and would probably end up giving the band your PIN numbers/car/first born should they ask it of you, such is the power of their music.

Secondly, Revenge of Calculon have such a strange sense of off-kilter uniqueness about them, that for my money, they’re one of the most outlandishly talented live acts I’ve seen in a long time. As mentioned they sound fantastic as a recorded entity, but on stage, its a case of performance art meets Mexican wrestling paraphernalia and shell suits, with a slightly uncomfortable topping of throbbing fetishised sexual intrigue. Seriously weird. Seriously great. - Louder than war

Friday was my favorite day at Iceland Airwaves, musically. After appearing on a panel (“Re-inventing the wheel: the new media model”) and getting some lunch, I visited Reykjavik’s Lucky Records, which is a terrific record store that has a great mix of new and used vinyl, a nice Icelandic music section, and lots more. I managed to leave without buying anything but I did catch a live set from luchador-masked Revenge of Calculon who had the crowd in stitches with some great banter and laid down some cool low-fi electro / sampled beats that reminded me a little of Money Mark. - Brooklyn Vegan

By time Sunday rolled around during Iceland Airwaves we were all pretty well spent. Holly was under the weather, we’d all been out super late the night before, and the weather had taken the kind of turn for the worse that the North Atlantic specializes in, that amazing combination of cold, heavy rain, and high winds that will leave you soaked (♠) and chilled to the bone within 60 seconds of stepping outside. Since there wasn’t anything compelling on-venue closing out the festival we all strongly considered just sitting it out and chilling in our apartment, but I had that itch… I really wanted to see old school punks Fræbbblarnir who were playing an off-venue early evening set in the upstairs room at Dillon. What eventually sealed the deal was that they were to be followed by a band called Revenge of Calculon who my buddy Ingvar insisted I had to see. So Norberto, J and I braved the elements, got soaked to the bone on the four-block walk to Dillon, and caught Fræbbblarnir, who packed the joint full of locals and played a fun set. When they wrapped we were able to grab some seats right by the stage and I got the chance to meet Life in the Vinyl Lane reader Paul in person after we’d been missing each other all over town during the week.

And then Revenge of Calculon hit the stage. Wearing track suits. And lucha libre masks. And shit got weird.

Revenge of Calculon come at you with one guy on the electronics and one guy playing funky bass, the music like the soundtrack of a 1970s blaxploitation sci-fi movie (♥), all bleeps and bloops and funky bass and audio clips from old films and TV. They tore it up at high velocity and had a good sense of humor when their equipment suddenly went dead for a couple of moments during their set (did I mention the roof of Dillon leaks, and it was raining, and that water was dripping near the stage…?). It was one of the two or three best performances I saw all week, and after the set I bought both 7″ records the band had on them, for which I was rewarded with my very own lucha libre mask! As soon as we got home I ordered their other two singles as well – they were so good I wanted to have everything they had out. (♦)

The pace of the singles is more deliberate than that of the live performance, but the elements are all there and it’s funky as hell – if anything the studio versions are a bit heavier than the sheer recklessness of the live tracks. “Hot Dog Man” b/w “Atari-Safari” is some radical stuff and my favorite of the four records, the closest you’ll get to their live craziness, feeling like it could all come off the rails at any moment, or at least that’s how you feel until you realize that in fact there probably aren’t any rails to begin with. “Meltdown” b/w “Neutron Star” is another great combo, particularly the B side with its vampire-movie-esque opening followed by a blend of creepy electronics, jamming bass, and hyper-modulated vocalizations that make it feel like you’re watching three different movies at once that somehow all seem to fit together like the pieces of a luchador’s mask. - Life in the vinyl lane