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Calories - Basic Nature

The award for being an excellent, band that should receive heaps of adulation goes to...

Rating: 8

And the award for being an excellent, under-recognised indie-rock band that should totally receive heaps of adulation goes to… Birmingham trio Calories. ‘Basic Nature’, their second album, finds the three-piece in irresistibly good form. Rock Sound first heard this record more than half a year ago, but it’s lost none of its appeal. Marrying indie-rock idiosyncrasies to pop charm, ‘Basic Nature’ is an impressive successor to the well-received ‘Adventuring’. ‘Even Stephens’ is almost effortlessly anthemic; there’s no schmaltz here, these songs are raw and all the better for it. Elsewhere, ‘Let’s Pretend That We’re Older’ nods to Weezer in its chorus chord sequence, while ‘The Mortal Boys’ would be a surefire hit single if the world of popular music wasn’t run by clueless wankers. They’re blessed, too, by having two very different but equally adept vocalists in John Biggs and Pete Dixon. The former provides the perfect, clean tone in ‘The Orchard Girls’; the latter is able to manipulate his voice in a fashion that can be equally emotionally affecting and merrily charming. You’re unlikely to find this album in a record shop. Then again, you’re unlikely to find a record shop at all at the moment, so get online and order yourself a copy. We promise it’ll be worth it.

Tim Newbound