The Curtains Issue #30

Calamity (Asthmatic Kitty)

By Sam Scranton
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 12:00am

Prior to Calamity, the Curtains focused on the microscopic. Theirs was the music of single-cell organisms and amoebas quietly multiplying. Their song structures often consisted of four or five different ideas that would appear and disappear in quick succession, often lasting no longer than 20 or 30 seconds. The effect is much like viewing slides in a microscope, where slight shifts of the slide reveal entirely new scenes, which are connected only because they occupy the same slide. Additionally, all of the sounds were incredibly small — not quiet — but rather the drums, guitar, and analog synthesizers sound physically and would be perfectly at home on the soundtrack to ’70s science videos on the properties of aluminum.  

With Calamity, the Curtains shift focus from experiments in brevity to fully blossomed pop songs with warm vocals and traditional roles for instruments. Chris Cohen, the band’s only constant contributor, wrote all of the songs (and played all the instruments too) while on hiatus from Deerhoof. Where previous Curtains albums easily distanced themselves (though comparisons were still garnered) from Deerhoof, this album seems an extension of that band’s catalogue. Cohen plays the drums on “Green Water” as if he were a becalmed Greg Saunier and certain guitar tones on “The Thousandth Face” can be found on The Runners Four. Yet Cohen’s unusual phrasing choices, his delicate vocals, Nedelle’s subtle harmonies, and the occasional non-sequiter give Calamity a distinctive character all of its own.  

Often, Calamity seems a complete break from past Curtains efforts, but if one looks closely — like through a microscope — the building blocks are the same Golgi apparatuses and mitochondria of old.