Music Review // Calico City "Gotta Go"

 

While "Gotta Go" begins with these great guitar sounds, the music takes diverse twists and turns throughout the song which reminds me of a very specific time in music.  Back when The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish were bringing ska to the mainstream, bands like Rancid had songs influenced by the ska.  This also lead to a lot of lesser known bands coming out with a ska-punk sound, such as The Living End, and I feel like Calico City could have fit into that genre at that time rather well, as this does feel like something from then.

Along with that ska groove comes the blues to an extent, which reminds me of Ali Kat & The Revelators.   For some reason when parts of the melodies really come in a certain way I hear bits of Anberlin, but overall during the chorus (which is heavier) and other closer to ska-based times I can hear an artist such as RxBandits coming out.  There are parts when it gets quieter and then just kicks back in as it does that big drum rush as well, which just makes this song feel like more than one song at the same time.

The idea of having to go is not uncommon in music, especially when the music can make you get up and move.  Lyrics in this song such as "Darling listen to the music / My head's against the wall / Don't know how we even came to this / Said baby, don't you fall" make you just feel like you're in that situation where leaving is urgent.  In some ways, this song with the tones of the music and the lyrics feels almost like a spy mission where you're in too deep and now you must get out.  The alarms are sounding, the opps are coming and you must flee or risk being captured.

I've always been a firm believer that musicians can take sounds from the past, combine them and add a bit of their own flavor to create new sounds.  The way that Calico City seems to draw from so many different influences on "Gotta Go" and yet not all of the influences are even the same, but they make them work, is what makes this a special song.  This just feels like a recipe where you put a lot of different ingredients together and somehow just end up with the best possible taste.