Calm. – Our Twenties CD EP (Engineer Records)

Some new Engineer Records releases arrived yesterday, and since I didn’t write something about their bands for a while, I think it’s more than appropriate time to do so. I saw the news post about this band on their webpage a while ago and wanted to give them a listen, but many things came my way, and somehow I forgot it. Luckily, Engineer Records sent out this release for review. At first, I thought Our Twenties was a debut EP by Calm., but I was wrong. These guys played music for many years, and their first Help Yourself EP emerged around 2018. After that particular EP, Calm. published many singles such as Feeling Fly, Deflate Me, Eat Shit Everyone, Our Twenties, and Reptile. All these singles are part of their latest material, so if you somehow missed these guys, now you have a chance to listen to these recordings altogether.

As I said, Our Twenties is a collection of previously released standalone singles compiled onto a CD. The material is housed in beautiful digipack packaging with a giant middle finger decorating the front cover. Perhaps Calm. solely relies upon melodic punk rock aesthetics, but some other genres are lurking in the mix. You may hear some of the finest properties of pop punk, indie, and emo, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon other music genres along the way. Out Twenties almost equally resonates with all these qualities, but you’ll also hear how pop-punk dominates the most. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice these guys are experienced musicians who probably spent decades playing in other melodic punk rock, hardcore punk, emo, and indie bands.

Judging by their sound, I can only assume what they tried to achieve, mainly because many punk rock eras roam around in their songs. They included only the best qualities of their favorite bands, blended them all, and then arranged, enhanced, and decorated their tracks to their liking. You’ll find some resemblances with early nineties pop-punk, late nineties skater rock, contemporary indie punk, and melodic punk rock. I guess bands like Descendents, Green Day, Weezer, and many similar others inspired them the most, but at the end of the day, Calm’s songs sound unique. If you compare this EP with any album, you’ll never find any close resemblance with any other band. “Calm,” thought about each segment of their songs. From catchy themes, ear-appealing harmonies, powerful chord progressions, and riffs to beautiful vocal harmonies, singalongs, warm-sounding basslines, and dynamic rhythmic sequences, Calm. thoroughly planned every maneuver to satisfy even the pickiest fans of pop-punk sound. Our Twenties EP is superb material you need to hear. Head to Engineer Records for more information about ordering this pop-punk gem.