Calories / William - Split

[Calories] stripped-back style exudes accessibility aplenty, each and every furious riff tempered by a developed pop sensibility” – Mike Diver, Clash Magazine. “Truly stirring indie-rock that’s got plenty in common with the straighter-faced bands on Dischord’s roster, with […] hooks large enough to hang a Great White on.” – Drowned In Sound. “[William mix] Pavement with heavier bands that still know their way around a good pop hook 8/10.” – Rocksound Magazine. On Monday 8th February, Tough Love Records issue the second in its series of double A side split singles. Featuring two tracks each from Birmingham’s Calories and south London-based three-piece William, the record showcases two of the UK’s most engaging alt.rock acts. Limited to just 500 copies, each 7” comes with an exclusive zine designed by Zineswap’s inimitable artist Gordon Armstrong, who has also created a related website to showcase the release – www.vilesthugloop.com. Brummie three-piece Calories were born from the ashes of the much-loved Distophia. Adventuring out of the traps before the embers had cooled, they released their 22-minute debut album in Spring 2009 to much acclaim. With a touring schedule so intense it made the sun seem lazy, Calories have somehow managed to find time to record a second record – Habitations - due in early 2010 on Smalltown America. The two tracks featured on the 7” are the first evidence of the fruits on their labour, taken from an impressive 25 song recording session.  Channeling the intensity of early emo (when it meant something more than trainers and panda eyes), they’re a Midland’s accented Cap ‘N’ Jazz, but with tighter chops and funnier voices. William formed following a chance meeting beside the Cutty Sark. They’re a power trio in the most obvious sense of the word, but there could be twenty of them. William are a pure distillation of Our Band Could Be Your Life: 1/3 D. Boon, 1/3 straight edge, 1/3 Stinson brothers, but with less flannel and more parental support. And then there’s that voice. Just like Geddy Lee’s, how did it get so high? But they certainly don’t talk like ordinary guys. William’s appearance on the 7” follows their widely acclaimed debut album Self In Fiction and six-track mini-album Slightly Delighted. Recorded in the final months of 2009, William’s new tracks see them return to the melodic bass lines and huge choruses characteristic of their early singles. But these songs represent a big step forward, evoking Broken Social Scene’s yearning bombast and the scattershot spirit of The Replacements, suggesting an army of guitars rather than a lean three piece. It’s in those guitars that the lineage between Calories and William is made most clear. Both bands display an astute ability to marry raw power with deft melodies and a compulsive intelligence. Two launch parties in their respective home cities in early February will see the bands playing alongside each other, showcasing not a small dose of mutual bromance.

4 tracks - A: Calories - "Mortal Boys", "Drink the Potion" AA: William - "Dilettante", "Lustreless"

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