Well.
Hailing from San Diego, CA, the band Call Me Alice consists of Jude on
keys, Crosby on vocals, Epiphany on bass, and "the THRaWN" [sic]
on percussion. Seemingly a product of the Switchblade Symphony-Marilyn
Manson "goth metal" axis, they've put together a disc and a
general modus operandi that's both annoying, ridiculous, and really good
technically. How, may you ask, is this done? Well, here's the deal. These
folks have built a KISS/GWAR style rock mythos around themselves and seem
to stick to it, said mythos being that they're patients in some sort of
cosmic asylum and there's an anthropomorphic force called "Natural
Law" out to get them. Silly, but no sillier than some of the stuff
other bands have come up with. Well, not much sillier, anyway. The disc
itself has a data track, with an autolaunching Flash movie with band bios,
etc. It's well done, but if the sucker had a virus payload, this would be
one severely annoyed rock critic. As for the music itself...
Bald - This is your basic 80s-rock track, lite-metal style, with dreck lyrics that, while they're fairly incoherent, fit the band's basic theme of incoherency in general.
Electrical Jesus - Bouncy and funk-tinged, this track again has pretty incoherent lyrics, but they don't really detract from the track. It's fairly danceable, if not particularly compelling.
Bugs in the Mirror - This is a fairly straight goth rock track. It's the sort of thing that your average goth club audience would probably like, although not be really wild about; interesting, but not earthshaking. At least it's danceable.
Life 101 - Here we have more of a solo-listening sort of track, a moody cheez-metal ballad sort of thing.
I really want to dislike this band, but they're just good enough to pull off this blatantly ridiculous act, which is impressive in and of itself. This is an interesting if not particularly memorable offering, perfect for those who feel the need for an odd band to make cryptic fan-cult references to. And lose the Flash, kids; save it for the website or label the CD appropriately next time.
Contact Information:
Post: P.O. Box 83205, San Diego, CA 92138
Phone:
760-643-0942
E-Mail: callmealice@callmealice.com
Web: http://www.callmealice.com
