OTR: Calla - Calla

"Beware, this is a masterpiece!" So goes the first sentence of allmusic.com's review of Calla's self-titled debut. High praise for a disc with only nine tracks, but well-earned praise.

Calla, which was reissued in 2004 with three live "bonus" tracks (incidentally, the version I own) is a hypnotic trip through the streets of some unnamed city at twilight. Virtually lyricless from the opener "Tarantula" to the closer "Awake and Under" the listener is invited to place his or her own meaning to the beckoning basslines and sharp guitar screeches; the percussion which resembles acid jazz more often than the backbeat of a rock song. Are these even rock songs? No, this is classified as "post-rock."

I actually purchased this disc (hence owning the reissue and not the original) with four other Calla albums when they performed in Pittsburgh as openers for Interpol. To be honest, that night I felt that Calla was the better of the two acts, as Interpol had just released Our Love to Admire and was focusing heavily on songs from that effort (which I thought weaker than their previous two albums).

At that point, Calla had released five albums - I already owned a copy of their second disc, Scavengers. I had purchased it in 2002 when I saw the band perform as part of that year's CMJ Music Marathon. It quickly became one of my favourite albums. But more on that later...