photo from Barclay House show August 26, 2008 by Megan Lloyd, Baltimore area Photographer
After tenuring in influential bands such as Portraits of Past and Funeral Diner, the members of ...Who Calls So Loud formed a new band in the wake of the Funeral Diner break up and quickly put out a full length double 10" and a four song 12" EP in the matter of a year before suddenly breaking up.
What the band leaves in their wake is a twelve song discography spread out between two records and an all-encompassing discography cassette released on Utarid Tapes earlier this year. Due to their previous projects, ...Who Calls So Loud had a devout following before they even released their debut LP. They released their self titled double 10" amidst a flurry of critical acclaim and fan support.
The band's sound expanded upon the framework laid down by Portraits of Past and Funeral Diner to create a dense, epic, and dark soundscape on their debut LP. Impressive, dynamic drumming and a growling bass tone frame the frantic, yet restrained and intelligent guitar playing, which often makes compelling use of rhythmic shifts, and delay-washed introspective passages. The vocals are great, filled with powerful emotion and consistent motifs and themes lyrically.
The jewel of their discography in my opinion, though, is their self titled 12" EP. Each side features two songs: one instrumental intro song that leads into two of their finest and most diverse songs. On the A Side, the glitchy "Hey, I'm Outside" leads into what is the snappy, snare-driven "M'ed Palms", the band's shortest proper song. On the B Side, the moody, weird "Resonant Grain Silo" leads into the epic, nearly 9 minute long "Lark Vs Rascal", which in my mind is the band's best song. It swirls and builds, decays and re-blooms, successfully uses post-rock elements, and showcases the band's ability to write an absolutely beautiful yet crushing song without ever becoming too redundant and drawn out.
I had the privilege of seeing these guys play Barclay House in Baltimore on their last U.S. tour, and I'm glad I did.
Buy the 2x10" from Robotic Empire
Buy the 12" LP from Protagonist
...Who Calls So Loud on Myspace
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...Who Calls So Loud 2x10" LP (2008)
...Who Calls So Loud 12" EP (2008)
