Houston Calls, by their own definition, sounds like, “Green Day had sex with Motion City Soundtrack who in turn completed the threesome with straight up Pop.” Houston Calls is Jersey-based group making their name in the music world as fantastic story tellers and the producers of some sick shows. "Most of the songs follow a plot," says vocalist/lyricist Tom Keiger about their full-length album, ‘A Collection of Short Stories’. "I like to tell stories of my experiences, mostly in the third person so I can sit back and relate as well." ‘Elephant and Castle’, for example, is about a young girl making a break from her childhood home; every song on their full-length is a universal story.
In their first year the band put out a four-song demo, and in the summer of 2004 their five-song EP was produced. 2004 was a huge year for them; they took the reigns of their careers and proposed that Pure Volume and Absolute Punk sponsor them for a nation-wide tour, which the band booked. “That was our first awesome tour,” says Tom. “We pride ourselves in our energetic stage antics. Our whole premise is we love playing music and love having fun. [Drive-Thru Records founders] Richard Reines and Stefanie Reines saw us play in New Jersey and New York, and decided to sign us.” Drive-Thru Records is also the label of bands such as The Early November, Halifax, Hellogoodbye, and New Found Glory.
‘A Collection of Short Stories,’ produced in 2005, has taken the band to new heights and since then they’ve been touring, advertising, and generally just being amazing. Currently they’re in the process of putting out a new demo, ‘Modest Manifesto’. To check them out yourself and track news on their upcoming demo, visit their MySpace: www.myspace.com/houstoncalls
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This article was written nearly two years ago, before Houston Calls produced The End of an Error on October 14, 2008. After a few member changes and a tour with Amber Pacific the band announced that they would be disbanding for good. It would be a shame if every person possible didn’t go to their last official show scheduled for August 29, 2009, which I may actually be making a weekend travel for. The End of an Error delivers Houston Calls’ promise of an upbeat, power-charged album but also twists in a few more somber, slower songs that seem to drip emotion, such as “The Oaks On Prince Street” and “Stay With Me Tonight”, also known as “Bittersweet Chase”. You can hear their entire discography on their MySpace music page, so why haven’t you heard?
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