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.
