Calico Club

Calico Club / Permanent Night / Self-released / ****

“She has her smells, she’s using them well,” sings PleasureFaces of SA duo Calico Club on “Melissa Ethereal.” In the wrong context, that’s a second-tier line from a gross-out track on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. But as the hook for Calico Club’s fourth track on the debut EP Permanent Night, the line fits snugly to the pair’s examination of club life in all its pheromones.

Like Iggy Pop’s “Nightclubbing” or anything Grace Jones ever touched, Permanent Night is a record about the bar as not only a lifestyle but a creative opportunity: the chance to perform in posture, dress and dance even if you’re not onstage. To soundtrack these ideas, PleasureFaces and GALACTICAT of Calico Club placed together an exciting EP of synth and dance floor production. GALACTICAT’s rhythms lay a foundation for dancers, while PleasureFaces’ key work settles in between the abrasive sandpaper synths of the Crystal Castles and the gorgeous, tracking-shot work of Johnny Jewel. From the nocturnal desires of the EP’s title track to the ode to an unknown beau on “Melissa Ethereal,” Permanent Night is the late summer score for a night on the Strip. - The San Antonio Current

Electronic Exhibition, produced by Calico Club, will feature electronic art, both audible and visual, throughout the summer. This past weekend, Sleep ∞ Over and Calico Club shared the stage with Massiver, DJ Bitter Teen and DJ Sarah Fly at the chill Hi-Tones in San Antonio. Visuals were emitted by Sixto-Juan Zavala and George Hoffman. This place is eerily amazing with a chola on staff serving Chamoy Ritas (mmm, chamoy), altars dedicated to the queen of Tejano dreams, Selena, Spurs veladoras and a taco stand to boast. This event is sure to conjure one-of-a-kind nights this summer.Calico Club is one part Daecos of GALACTICAT and one part Kim C., known as Pleasure Faces. These producers explore the following themes in their music: dark, light, femme, masc, techno, synth and electro. It's all that can transpire from a love for the late nights and cool-blue dance floors. Daecos is influenced by the endless styles of self-expression and infinite types of electronic music. After learning how to write poetry, he developed a taste for rapping that lead him to DJing and producing music for over a decade. You definitely don’t want to miss these two at the next Electronic Exhibition. - Snapshot Magazine

Introduce yourselves to It Sounds Better Live! What are your roles in Calico Club?

PLEASUREFACES - I’m PLEASUREFACES and I’m the singer of Calico Club.

GALACTICAT - And I’m GALACTICAT and I do half of the production of Calico Club-PLEASUREFACES didn’t give herself enough credit! She produces half as well. We work together, it’s 50/50.

How did you get started making music together?

PLEASUREFACES - It first began with GALACTICAT doing his solo work. It was soundscapes, no vocals, all instrumental. We got together and said “hey, let’s put some vocals on it” and that’s where I came in. Then we started writing new songs, even incorporating old GALACTICAT songs and tweaking them a little bit.

GALACTICAT - We were forged on tour as well. We had been playing local shows and were invited to go on tour with Public, another fantastic SA band, and it all came together then. We found our groove.
I think you guys have a very interesting sound and take on dance music. What are some of your influences? Where do you grab inspiration?

PLEASUREFACES - A lot of things! We like a lot of soundtracks. Personally, I love dark electronic of course. The singer Karin (Dreijer Andersson) has a big influence on me. Her work with Fever Ray, The Knife, Royksopp- all of that really inspired me get into the dark electronic scene.
GALACTICAT - Sound scapes, soundtracks, and creating a feeling with sound. Books really inspire us as well. A couple of the songs are inspired by characters and concepts from books PLEASUREFACES has read.
What was your recording process like for your first EP, Permanent Night?

PLEASUREFACES - We pretty much did it all ourselves at our in-home studio where we’re really comfy and can get into it as many times as we wanted. That’s a perk of doing it yourself.

The San Antonio music scene has been growing like crazy. How have you and your music been received here?

PLEASUREFACES - San Antonio as a city of music is growing and there are so many things going on now in all genres. There’s more like minded artist to collaborate with.

Where can we find your music?

GALACTICAT - Bandcamp and Soundcloud. Mostly bandcamp. Calicoclub.bandcamp.com Soundcloud we will upload remixes we’ve been receiving and a couple of tracks from our EP and our newest track. Also Instagram, twitter, Facebook. Just look us up on the internet, we’re there. - It Sounds Better Live

Mondegreen is the phenomenon of mishearing lyrics, making your own interpretation out of the one provided in song. A common enough error, but it's one we made embarrassingly in a review of Calico Club's debut EP Permanent Night. "She has her spells, she's using them well," sang PleasureFaces of the SA duo. In a sensory goof, we switched spells for "smells," leading to a facepalm etched forever in ink.

Calico Club lends itself to the mondegreen mixup in a very exciting way, burying their strong pop songwriting in house rhythms and ghostly reverb. The title cut from an impending EP, "Pure//Passion" makes its intentions known on SoundCloud: "We must go where our secrets stay / our hearts can play / our secret must remain." - The San Antonio Current

The San Antonio duo of Calico Club will bring their electronica to life, when they perform as well. Last year, these two dropped the “Permanent Night” EP, and really changed how I felt about San Antonio’s scene. The album has a very synthwave and dancey vibe that harken back to a time when we all thought Don Johnson was cool. - Free Press Houston

Written by Erica Monzon

There is a dissonant charm on Permanent Night. The opening title track is a contrast between mid-tempo, light-industrial influenced beats meets old school 80’s freestyle hip-hop (think Breakin’ 2, Electric Boogaloo), while Kimberly Cardenas subtly sweet, nonchalant rap calls up the dark side of the dance club scene. On Untitled (F.T.D.F.), Cardenas asserts: “I don’t mind being alone/Got plenty of friends on the dance floor,” as if she needs no deeper relationships than club-buddy acquaintances, but the starkly dark, low-key sound of the track makes one wonder if it actually does bother her. The third track, King of the Streets, begins with colorful synths and accessible beats similar sounding to, say, the Drive soundtrack and other 80’s inspired synthwave. Cardenas sings: “the streets are full of empty eyes/the streets will never change/the streets are full of empty eyes/the streets will never be the same.” These lyrics portray a paradox that suggests the pragmatic nightlife is permanently sketched as a cycle of the party scene that infinitely recycles itself. On Melissa Ethereal, we meet a character, the epitome of the mystical dance diva: “She has her spells/she’s using them well/crystal, crystal, crystal.” The recurring theme of this album contrasts being submerged in the cool, carefree dance club scene with the dangers of living that lifestyle and how mundane it can all become. Exploration of this theme through the song writing and composition makes for a few profound moments. I can only see this band getting better with the natural nurturing of the songwriting craft and the releasing of new material. Overall, Calico Club’s Permanent Night is a tiny window to a bigger concept full-length album. They are definitely an electronic outfit out of San Antonio worth keeping an eye on, and dancing to. - Mondo Nation

The scene hearkened back to shows at Rhinoceropolis, before the decade turned, when it would be a handful of people going to check out an excellent band no one much knew about. You showed up hoping to get into something a little weird, a little innovative and certainly an antidote to whatever trends dominated the more obvious venues. The crowds were largely the friends of the bands, but the mix of ages and styles spoke to a casual and relaxed feel, one that helps introduce people to challenging and unconventional music. - The Westword