Calibretto 13 may be in the running for "Most Fun Song of the Year" with "High Five," the leadoff single from their debut album for Tooth and Nail Records, Enter the Danger Brigade. For starters, it's acoustic punk (or, as their press release calls it, "alternative folk-punk," a genre painfully unmined except by the likes of The Violent Femmes). For another thing, lead singer Joseph Whiteford has an undeniably funny vocal that couldn't possibly be anything but fun. Couple that with lyrics like "I think it's kinda funny that we're all a bunch of nerds," and you've got yourself a radio hit.
None of the other songs on the album quite reach the magnitude of "High Five" (with the possible exception of their riotous cover of The Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz"), but overall, Enter the Danger Brigade is an excellent album. The band's only problem comes when Whiteford moves away from his normal approach to lyrics, and begins to pontificate. Songs like "Creep" ("Until you change your ways / My God will not hold out his hand") and "Fall Away" ("Johnny took a trip to Brazil / To spread the truth, to preach what is real / When he got back home he had such a fire / But just a month later he lost his desire") are undeniably youth-groupy in their finger-wagging. They're still fun and well-put-together musically, but Calibretto's novelty songs are unavoidably more enjoyable to listen to.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Exit Zine 2001Reviewed by James M. BranumCalibretto 13 has created a very memorable album that almost rivals the albums of Five Iron Frenzy in sheer silliness, while taking advantage of a musical genre (acoustic punk) that has been neglected for too long. I must say that I am not familiar with the acoustic punk scene (other than a song or two by The Violent Femmes), but I really, really like what I hear. Enter the Danger Brigade…Decapolis 2001Reviewed by Travis PersaudI had never heard Calibretto 13's music prior to this, so when I received this CD I was extremely excited to listen to it. The album has been out for a while now and I have yet to hear one negative thing said about them or this release, so I knew I was most likely in for a treat. I was sure this brand of "acoustic punk" would be new and inviting to my ears, something I definitely needed. After my…Similar sounding releases
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