The Calico Brothers are in town and ready to rock in a slightly more mature way, writes Scott Kara
KEY POINTS:
A mysterious band of brothers are playing in town tonight. No one knows if they are related, but Robbie, Jeff, and their leader, Jimmy, who is especially notorious in these parts, go by the name of the Calico Brothers.
They roll out country/rock tunes as effortlessly as a tumbleweed bouncing down a dusty and windswept street.
You need not fear the trio and the various hangers-on who make up their live band. To be honest, they've only had five practices, and Jimmy likens them to a social rugby team.
"You get together every Tuesday, have a play, and that's what music has got to be, because if you worry about anything else it'll just end in misery," he laughs, wise to the ravages of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
In a past musical life, Jimmy was frontman for late-90s power-pop rockers Splitter but these days he's grown up, had his first child, and finds more power with an acoustic guitar than an electric.
"I never really felt that authentic being a rocker because, I mean, I'm too white and happy and fat and old and can't actually sing rock, I've decided."
"But," he reckons, "in my new frame of mind, something doesn't have to be fast to rock because you can blast with a gentle power, too. That's what we want to do. Just focus on playing songs really."
The Calico Brothers (also made up of Jeff on bass and drummer Robbie who are the rhythm section in the Bads) have just released debut EP God Left Town and it sounds like Wilco, with a touch of Crowded House fronted by John Lennon.
"I had these acoustic songs and wanted to do something a bit more tailored production-wise," he says.
Hey, forgive the muso speak, it's Jimmy's day-job - he's an audio engineer - coming out.
"It doesn't sound like Genesis or anything, but we took time to get things the way we wanted," he laughs.
Being a big fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Beatles, and ELO's Jeff Lynne, he wanted to do something with "nice, big, acoustic guitars" so he studied the way the masters recorded tunes.
"What they do is record two six-strings, a 12-string and another six-string in a thing called Nashville tuning, which is like all the high strings from a 12-string put on, which gives you that nice, zingy sound. It's pleasing to the ears."
And God Left Town is a sweet and rousing set of country/pop songs, yet there are moments of creepiness, like the haunting glockenspiel in the title track.
"What's that horror movie that uses it?" asks Jimmy. "Ice-T sampled it. Is it Friday the 13th? Or Halloween I think it is. I mean nothing's as scary as an evil clown, is it?" he laughs.
In the future he plans to strip back the sound even more, while increasing the dynamics, and stretch the songs out "from three-minute pop songs to musical pieces that go somewhere".
"There was a thought in my mind with [the Calico Brothers] that I didn't want to rock. You end up like the Rolling Stones - a sad bunch of millionaires," he jokes. "But you can play country/folk for the rest of your life. Then again," he reasons, "they're all just songs. You can't get too precious about them. He idea is to keep writing, having that moment, and taking those songs and playing them with musicians and having fun."
LOWDOWN
Who: The Calico Brothers
What: God Left Town, out now
Where & when: Bacco Room (under Toto Restaurant), Nelson St, tonight, 8pm
