Calamity Jane’s We’ll Explain When We Get There

By SethM

When I read the name Calamity Jane in my queue of music to review, my first thought was, “Well, looks like I’ve got some country to listen to.”  Then I took a look at some of the press info that had been included with the download:

“Hailing from Central Texas, Calamity Jane are an eclectic mix of influences from Blink-182 to Set Your Goals and if we’re being honest, they sound like a pretty fantastic mix of the two. The foursome are gearing up to release their debut EP, We’ll Explain When We Get There, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring you a taste of the album…”

As soon as you start listening to the 5 song EP (and I do suggest you get yourself a copy), you’ll realize that the description of the band’s sound ~ although it of course doesn’t capture the full experience, since words can only tell you so much about music, it’s your ears that are the true judges ~ is spot on.

There’s no question that Calamity Jane is influenced by the bands mentioned but has found a way to pull from both and create  something new, but something that still makes your brain happy by remaining just slightly reminiscent of Blink-182 in particular. Nods to Good Charlotte and Sum 41 popped up here and there, too, making for a very energetic, party-starting album overall.  If you don’t believe me (or the snippet from the press packet) you can check out the track “Sweet,” courtesy of Infectious Magazine.com (a perfect outlet for debuting the track, since with its punk rock guitars and steady drum/bass lines, We’ll Explain When We Get There is undeniably infectious).

Calamity Jane features Gaven McNaney (Guitar), Cameron Brickell (Guitar/Vocals), Kevin Quintero (Bass/Lead Vocals) and Davis Dillon III (Drums).

The tracklisting is as follows:

Bandit

Centipede

Pidcoke

Quincidentally

Sweet

These exhilarating songs ~ which the moment you start playing will quickly turn a so-so summer day just hanging on the deck with a few friends into a get-off-your asses, grab a drink (or five), and let’s do-it-to-it-‘til-the-wee-hours party ~ are damn good (and certainly far from the country fare I had initially braced myself for) and you can picture these guys going crazy and jumping all over the place live (so to Calamity Jane, that’s a subtle hint that you need to tour…and play a show near us…and to our readers, that’s a reminder to check out the end of this article to see how you can help the band get on this year’s Vans Warped Tour).

The guys fooling around ~ and we hope not about to go from a foursome to a trio…watch that arrow!

Of the five tracks, “Quincidentally” is my favorite and reminded me of another song from one the previously mentioned influences; I can’t place the song, but that really doesn’t matter ~ what matters is that both tracks are super-likeable and stick in your head…and again, hearing some good new music with a thread of familiarity is always a welcome treat for the ears.

If I’ve convinced you that Calamity Jane’s music has put a fresh spin on one of your fave genres of music, or if your musical taste encompasses a bunch of genres as long as the music is WORTHY, then give a listen to “Sweet” (link above) and start following this “pretty fantastic” band on Facebook and Twitter. Give them some support, too, by voting for them to play this year’s Vans Warped Tour here.

And while you’re doing all that clicking, don’t forget to Like Flashwounds too…