CALICO CITY Bring Groove-Heavy Reggae and Raucous Alt-Rock To Debut EP ‘Second In Line’
Friendships can grow, fracture, blur into something more, or leave you wondering where you stand. Exploring everything that exists in those grey areas, Boorloo/Perth six-piece Calico City delivers their debut EP, ‘Second in Line’, a six-track journey through the messy, heavy, and complicated realities of friendship, out Friday, September 18.
Originally formed in high school, Calico City have spent the past year building on their distinctive collision of alternative rock, reggae and psychedelic influences. Since releasing debut single ‘Ghost’ on September 19 last year, the six-piece have shared stages with Beddy Rays, Dear Sunday, SOPHIAN and Birdland, with ‘Second in Line’ arriving almost exactly one year on from where it all began.
Along the way, Calico City have continued to gain momentum across Australian radio and media, spending three weeks on the AMRAP charts and reaching #9 Overall, #6 Metro, #2 Indie/Alternative and #2 Rock/Metal. Their releases have also received support from RTRFM, ABC Perth, AAA Backstage, Future Mag, Aus Music Scene and more.
Across this debut EP, Calico City examine friendship from every angle, moving through betrayal, separation, frustration and uncertainty alongside the moments where platonic relationships begin to blur into something more. With vocalists Brianne Reyes and Sienna Law sharing vocal duties across every track, the six-song EP moves through different perspectives and experiences, tied together by the uncomfortable feeling of being pushed aside, overlooked or left questioning your place in someone else’s life. Brianne Reyes shares:
“‘Second in Line’ explores the complexities and the grey areas around being friends, and the many ways a friendship can crumble or grow into something more. Each song dives down a different path of a relationship, the messy paths, the hot and heavy and the more mellow. Our EP takes you through all sorts of possibilities of feeling like the lesser priority and being ‘Second in Line’ in a friendship.”
Opening the EP, ‘Gotta Go’ moves between groove-laden reggae verses, raucous guitars and punchy drums before breaking into driving alternative-rock choruses that capture the push and pull of a complicated relationship. Focus track ‘Marigold & Cosmos’ follows with a more psychedelic and expansive turn, tracing the dazed aftermath of a confusing separation as harmonic synths and bass gradually transform feelings of emptiness and disorientation into frustration.
‘Back in the Before’ shakes off the bad energy with a carefree goodbye, trading vocals across free-flowing, fast-paced verses before breaking into lucid, overdriven choruses. That freedom gives way to confrontation on ‘Anomaly’, where evocative keys, biting guitar harmonies and high-energy rock channel the anger of finally recognising the betrayal and mistreatment buried within a past friendship.
‘Ghost’ brings together deep reggae pulse, psychedelic tones and meandering guitar riffs before erupting into cathartic alternative-rock choruses, a heavy bridge and cavernous guitar solo. Closing track ‘How Could You Say It’ strips everything back through mellow acoustics, cello and woeful vocal harmonies, capturing the heartbreak of hearing a best friend reveal painful truths while under the influence.
Groove-heavy, psychedelic and ready to erupt, Calico City bring their genre-bending sound into full view on debut EP ‘Second in Line’, out Friday, September 18.