Calibos from Arlington, Virginia makes their entrance with their self-titled debut album. While not revolutionary, they have managed to create a satisfactory set of college-rock tinged pop songs. Calibos brings enough energy and excitement to their music to make them worth listening to.
Shifting from the fun songs like “Offsides” and “Station” to the dark instrumentals like “Locust Ballet” and the driving “Against the Coast,” Calibos builds an introspective and moody set of songs that reveal the diversity of Calibos’ ability. As the album builds, so does Calibos’ apparent talent.
Although there is nothing out of the ordinary about their line-up, Calibos produces an impressive amount of sound for just having three members. Their passion and dedication to their music shows through. The distinctive drum work of Nikhil Ranade compliments the friendly vocals of Andy Fogle. They are accompanied by Jeff McKinney, who the album notes credit as playing “guitar” and “more guitar.”
The band seems to focus less on their lyrics than they do on their music, as evidenced by the fact that out of nine songs, three are instrumentals. Still, their lyrics, while a bit ambiguous, are interesting. Calibos doesn’t rely on wordiness; instead, they use sparse, often dreamlike images to communicate their messages. The words mean little on their own, but in the context of the songs, they compliment the music perfectly.
Calibos’ album does have one flawat barely a half-hour, it’s too short. Even though it is a debut album, it feels a bit uncomplete, and Calibos’ music is certainly entertaining enough to sustain a longer album. Still, as a debut album, leaving listeners wanting more is better than giving them too much. A hard band to categorize, Calibos’ music seems comfortable in their status as an underground band. It seems unlikely that they’ll ever share chart space with today’s big names, but Calibos feels like a secret band passed among friends. They deserve a cult following. Calibos has a definite future ahead of them, and this won’t be the last we hear from them.