Call Me Lightning - Soft Skeletons

Genre rock Publisher Frenchkiss Records External Links Official Call Me Lightning Website Official Frenchkiss Records Website

Soft Skeletons, the second record from Milwaukee's Call Me Lightning (presumably named after The Who song), starts off well. "Meet the Skeletons" is a hard rock song with a punk rock heart. It is filled with spunky little guitar riffs and just enough yelling to still be appealing, and the whole band yells the chorus, a signature punk move. It's also really short, clocking in at just 2 minutes and twenty-five seconds. "Billion Eyes" starts off with a wall of sound, moves on to repetitive guitar work, adds some angry vocals that are pretty catchy. Okay, nice. "Beaming Streaks" changes things up and, instead of the guitars being the star, hands the reins over to the percussion department and features interesting bass and drum work. The lyrics get muddled, but that doesn't really bother me with this type of song. It's more about mood than specific wording.

The problem really sets in around track six. "Nobody Dies" is another short punk rock homage, but it's sloppy and doesn't stand out. After that all the songs just sort of blend together into one long mediocre stream that makes it hard to distinguish one song from the next. People who were fans of their debut The Trouble We're In will find a more mature, tighter sounding band and will not be disappointed with what they hear. However, people who didn't hear it are going to be less impressed with the eleven tracks featured here.

Call Me Lightning - "We Be Dragons" Live at Cafe Lulu