Calhoun: Paperweights EP

As pop music goes, the six songs on this Calhoun EP are the culinary equivalent of puffy pastries: tasty, but rather insubstantial. There are better tracks on their older albums, such as “Kick Drum Mind” off of their eponymous album or “Horsefeathers” off of Heavy Sugar. The best track on this new EP is “Trapped”, a slow-burn that builds to a wordless singalong. Lead singer Tim Locke has the high and forlorn pop sound down pat, sounding not a little like Guster’s Ryan Miller, capable of the same moody tension. There’s no doubt that the band has some promise, given the melodic chops demonstrated on “Reap/Sow”, with its catchy chorus, and “Paperweights”, with its indelible synthpop.