Review: The Calls – ‘The Waterfront’

Put The Calls on, and you find yourself trying to guess who they remind you of most. The Libertines? The Cribs? A bit of Jamie T? The young Leeds band have probably been influenced by all of these at once, even if it wasn’t intentional. What is produced, then, with their debut ‘The Waterfront’, is an emergence from jaunty guitar melodies to the crashing of symbols and introduction of the punchy, commanding lead vocals. The vocals are rough, and the lyrics more so: detailing a prostitute selling herself for “a shot in the arm”, but it keeps a jovial tone. Its instrumentation is sophisticated, with careful bass picks, a steadily treading rhythm and a drum segment reminiscent of a more chilled out Red Hot Chili Peppers track. Dissolving into shouts at its conclusion, The Calls bring the chaos associated with them whilst maintaining a composed edge.

‘The Waterfront’ is available to stream alongside ‘Dreams Of Yesterday’ now.