Collisions

2003's Televise was by no means a poor album from Calla, but it often seemed too resigned and, occasionally, downright deflated. When the songs on 2001's Scavengers operated at a low-energy level, they at least had a smoldering, shadowy allure. On Collisions, the band wipes the sleep out of its eyes and produces a set of songs that is more inspired and vital, even if it's equally embittered and dejected. The added oomph — faster riffs here and there, stop-start rhythms, terse vocal phrasings — is bound to cause some comparisons to fellow New York band Interpol. However, each one of the characteristics has been in Calla all along. It's only now that they're being exposed to this extent (while the electronic undercurrents of old are made all but completely invisible), and the move results in the band's second-best album to date.