Calico Horse and Bunky @ Scolari's Office

On Friday Dec 28, 2007 I went to Scolari's Office to see Calico Horse. Singer/guitarist/pianist, Emily Neveu, is a very talented artist and musician, and a friend of mine. She did the artwork for Cat Dirt's Sessions Fest poster as well as all the artwork for the band. She had a short stint as the bassist for The Muslims. While the band was still called The Clockwork Army they changed drummers more than Spinal Tap. They even tried out and turned down the drummer for now defunct Alta Voz, which always made me scratch my head. They recorded the aptly named A Catalyst for Change Ep, and came out of the year long process with only two members. The new lineup consists of Dave Pettijohn on bass (the only other surviving member of The Clockwork Army), and two Loud+Clear Records alumni, Matt Mournian on guitar (singer/guitarist of Goodbye Blue Monday), and Tom (I don't know his last name) on drums (Comfortable For You, Lily White, and a Drive Like Jehu cover band). They only played a 6 song set which was a little dissapointing, but Emily was sick, and didn't seem to be in the highest spirits. She seemed a little irritated that she and the two other members had to wait on stage for Matt. She has a very powerful voice, and it didn't seem too affected by her illness. She played guitar on all but one song, during which she played the piano. The songs during which she played guitar seemed a bit thin. It seemed as though Matt's guitar didn't play much of a substantive role. As for the song that she played piano, on the other hand, I'd guess that Matt had a stronger role in writing the song, but it was easily the fullest, most spirited song of the set. I did really enjoy the set, but in general, they all seemed kind of stoic. Petti's amp became unplugged a couple of times, and he just kind of casually strolled over to plug it back in. They didn't play anything off of the A Catalyst for Change Ep. One of the songs they have up on their myspace profile, "Awake in the Clouds," reminds me of the chorus in "Lose Me" by Denali, but Emily's voice is a bit deeper than Mara Davis'. They have a ton of potential, especially considering they have somewhat of an "all-star" lineup. I've always been a big fan of Comfortable for You, Goodbye Blue Monday, and everything that Emily has done previously, so I'll be anxiously awaiting a healthy and more prolific Calico Horse.

Bunky is always fun. I really enjoy it when band appears to be having a good time while they play. If you've never seen them, Emily Joyce sings while playing the drums, which is impressive. She's also a bartender at the Casbah. Rosey at Sddialedin, who saw Bunky two days later when they played again at the Casbah said "Emily has one of the sweetest voices in San Diego, and the fact that she's always laughing and joking and giggling onstage, makes her so endearing, even when she thinks she's mauling a new song. The horn section separates the band from most others, and with Rafter on guitar, you've got a sure fire crowd pleasin' band with the batch of us in the front all singing and bopping along to the music." I didn't take any pictures of Bunky. I was kind of drunk by then. There are some of Rosey's pictures from their Casbah show here.