Calvin Krime Dress for the Future

Amphetamine Reptile

JUST WHEN I thought the AmRep vehicle had exhausted its last punk fumes, the label turns around and signs a fresh local outfit called Calvin Krime. Granted, Dress for the Future's opener "Sean Na Na," filled with irritating screams and subpar drumming, might make you want to whip the CD across the room like a Ninja throwing star. But you'd miss the moody lure of "Aegis Shaker" and the pop punk dynamics of "Drag Dissonant"--the first song to make me pump my fist since Team Dresch's "107."

Calvin Krime's real strength is their surf/sci-fi tracks. By using various analog effects, "Steve Dude Vs. Taurus Too" invents something genuinely supernatural sans vocals--a perfect backdrop for a '60s B movie. (The track also features a masturbation fantasy tacked onto the end--"Sitting on top of a girl/Sitting on top of the world"--whose cheekiness made me want to chuckle rather than take offense.) "Brand New Jason" bares Krime's sensitive side through lyrics that admit the boys shiver sometimes. This kind of intimacy saves Calvin Krime from being just another cock-rock-by-numbers band, and overall, their energy carries them when their crunch fails, making the band a much-needed addition to the AmRep fold. (Christina Schmitt)