Calm.
Coming straight out of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, the Punk Rock four piece Calm. have gone through countless iterations over the past decade playing music together, from Midwest Emo to Hardcore to Skate Punk, the band has taken all the best flavours from each phase, added some rock 'n' roll gnarliness and combined it to come out with a massive, anthemic brand of punk rock that is all their own. With influences ranging from Samiam, Jawbreaker and Fugazi to Weezer, The Dirty Nil and My Chemical Romance there are really no boundaries to the inspiration behind the Calm. sound, so long as it rages, it goes in the pot!
Throughout 2021 and early 2022 the band entered Homefire studios in their hometown to record a series of ripping singles including ‘Eat Shit Everyone’ and ‘Reptile Brain’. These singles proved to introduce the fully formed sound of Calm. to the masses. It is at the tail end of this process that the band proudly joined the Engineer Records family to release a compilation of their singles under the title, Our Twenties.
The covid-19 pandemic proved fertile ground for songwriting and, like the man possessed Ash is, he wrote obsessively, compiling the tunes that will comprise the debut calm. long form release ‘Dysfunctional Assumptions’, A 7 track mini album that tells the story of Ash's Twenties, from the murky depths of mental illness to the nostalgic reminiscing of memories created with your best friends.
Calm. are Ash, Fred, Jamie & Raphael.
For more on Calm.:
http://linktr.ee/Calmfreakingslaps
Releases
Reviews
Thoughts Words Action: http://thoughtswordsaction.com/2022/10/19/calm-our-twenties-cd-ep-engineer-records
Our Twenties is a collection of previously released standalone singles compiled onto a CD. The material is housed in beautiful digipack packaging with a giant middle finger decorating the front cover. Perhaps Calm. solely relies upon melodic punk rock aesthetics, but some other genres are lurking in the mix. You may hear some of the finest properties of pop punk, indie, and emo, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon other music genres along the way. Out Twenties almost equally resonates with all these qualities, but you’ll also hear how pop-punk dominates the most. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice these guys are experienced musicians who probably spent decades playing in other melodic punk rock, hardcore punk, emo, and indie bands.
Judging by their sound, I can only assume what they tried to achieve, mainly because many punk rock eras roam around in their songs. They included only the best qualities of their favorite bands, blended them all, and then arranged, enhanced, and decorated their tracks to their liking. You’ll find some resemblances with early nineties pop-punk, late nineties skater rock, contemporary indie punk, and melodic punk rock. I guess bands like Descendents, Green Day, Weezer, and many similar others inspired them the most, but at the end of the day, Calm’s songs sound unique. If you compare this EP with any album, you’ll never find any close resemblance with any other band. “Calm,” thought about each segment of their songs. From catchy themes, ear-appealing harmonies, powerful chord progressions, and riffs to beautiful vocal harmonies, singalongs, warm-sounding basslines, and dynamic rhythmic sequences, Calm. thoroughly planned every maneuver to satisfy even the pickiest fans of pop-punk sound. Our Twenties EP is superb material you need to hear. Head to Engineer Records for more information about ordering this pop-punk gem.
-Djordje Miladinović
WEAREYMX:
'You'll understand my excitement about this brilliant and energetic band called CALM. . These guys are the perfect example of what being in a punk-rock band means and if you'll check them out, I promise you'll only find great hooks, catchy melodies and loads of fun.'
-Francis Petrini
The Other Side Reviews:
'Listening to this foursome is like drinking a shot of tequila with a ball of fire hurtling at you at 1,000 miles/hours. I love it!!'
-Nicole Mendes
Roadie Music:
[Portuguese] A Calma. traz uma composição sólida, baseada em uma batida forte e que forma uma barreira sonora que se torna intransponível, tamanha é a força de sua música e a capacidade dos integrantes da banda de executar com perfeito conhecimento da causa um trabalho apresentado em um momento onde há uma grande falta de bandas originais com conteúdo real.'
[English translation] The Calm. brings a solid composition, based on a strong beat and that forms a sound barrier that becomes impossible to cross, such is the strength of its music and the capacity of the band members to execute with perfect knowledge of the cause a work presented in a moment where there is a great lack of original bands with real content'
-Fabiano Menon