A little over a year since their last album “Collisions” came out now sees the release of “Strength in Numbers,” an album that almost seems to have began where the previous one left off. On this one, Aurelio Valle (guitar, vocals), Peter Gannon (bass, guitars), and Wayne B. Magruder (drums, samples) return to their mellow, dreamy, and rather moody style, where even the strongest rockers on the album like “Sanctify” and “Bronson” seem to play more subdued than on the previous album.
“If it ain’t broke then don’t fix it.” This seems to be the theory that Calla follows in making this album. They have developed a style that can pretty much stand on its own. Their music is great to chill to as well as take a long drive with and it feels comforting, which is something that I really like about this band. While “Strength in Numbers” was written while touring across Europe and Russia, it does an excellent job of capturing the feel of traveling from place to place. Their songs move along like random cars on a lonely highway. This idea matches up with Calla’s style of songwriting and song structure perfectly, while not being too far down in the dumps. While their music is in no way sad, it’s not gonna make you get up and dance like your in church. They fall somewhere in the middle and seem content with that, which is fine by me.
While not as strong as “Collisions,” my only problem with the new album is that I was hoping to see them push their music farther than the last one, which was noticeably harder, but “Strength in Numbers” is by no means a let down. It exceeds expectations, sounding just as good as anything they’ve done prior. |