Calidad

• Artist: Difference Engine
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1997
• Genre: Rock

Review

It is a difficult task for a late-'90s American group to play evocative, moody, atmospheric pop without sounding vaguely British (or blatantly British like the old dream pop groups) and without laying on a bunch of too-prevalent guitar effects. Providence, RI's Difference Engine has not only done all this expertly for quite some time, but has thrived without falling in line with the currently prominent slowcore trap that has produced some great groups such as Idaho, Low, and Red House Painters. They burble with the best of them, but without any laconic indolence or snail-like paces, great as that sometimes sounds. Instead, this boy/girl twosome (with two pairs of pals filling in on bass and drums) relies on superb underlying tensions between the post-Joy Division/Throwing Muses basslines and the taut, inventive guitar figures that encircle them, never quite meeting each other square-on, but always managing to provoke a third chord in between in the listener's mind. It forms a carefully laid backdrop for Margie Wienk's beguiling, assured voice, which isn't as breathy as most female singers of this type of music (resisting Liz Fraser homage), yet still charms deeply and full-bodied like that of Pale Saints' Meriel Barham (almost a dead ringer) and also a lot like His Name Is Alive's Karin Oliver. All told, DE really draws listeners in. If not as flashy as 1995's Breadmaker, Calidad ultimately feels more mature, more settled, and more accomplished. And it's even prettier in those places where the volume isn't slowly rising, like low-flame boiling water whose bubbles begin to grow bigger and louder. This outfit's relatively low profile should come to an end, and soon, for this is tapestry-like excellence. ~ Jack Rabid, All Music Guide