Calendar Girl
Everyone But You
Intelligent
With Everyone But You, the Boston-based quartet Calendar Girl let you know where they’re coming from right out of the gate. The first song, “Where Have All the Heroes Gone?,” sounds like early R.E.M. as played by Hüsker Dü – not a bad thing at all. And that’s a good indication of where this whole record goes – Calendar Girl marries ’90s indie to an ’80s underground sensibility pretty well, focussing on lots of Pixies/Weezer-ish fuzzy guitars and the distinctive, plaintive voice of singer Johnny Anguish. “Falling Flat” could be a jam session between The Jesus & Mary Chain and Dinosaur Jr. “Crawl” could be The Lemonheads played by Sebadoh. “French” has a little more of that early R.E.M. flavor, with bits of The Cure and Sonic Youth. “Long Time” could be Mike Ness fronting an indie rock Smithereens. Nothing earth-shattering, but a solid record and a pleasant diversion, especially for people (like me) that miss 120 Minutes circa 1986. I’d be happy to have this Calendar Girl on my wall, but I’m even happier to have them in my CD player!
Intelligent Records, 203 Washington Street #102, Salem, WA 01970-6500; http://www.intelligentrecords.com
