AMG Review of 3 X 3 for 3 1/2

Bryan Carroll
All Music Guide

Three Songs by Three Kids for Three and a Half Years was Calvin Krime's swan song, and they couldn't have gone out with more style. The songs are three of the band's best, with Jon Kelson's out-of-control screaming and guitar rock, Sean Tillman's melodic yelp and fuzz-charged bass, and Jason Ralph's drum kit destruction coalescing underneath some seriously weird keyboard wank. "Mascara" and "This Sad Horse" are trademark CK melody-infused noise rockers, while "Get Off It" is an eight-minute-plus exercise in post-punk synthesizer groove. Proponents of witty puns from the start, the great irony of Calvin Krime's last and arguably best material is that it was released with a label outside of Amphetamine Reptile (they had been one of AmRep's standout bands since signing with them in 1997). Also worthy of mention is the release of Tillman's first pop record's (as Sean Na-Na) inclusion in the same singles series as CK's last. It's nearly impossible for a noise/punk band as raucous as CK to enjoy a prolonged existence (or to survive much past the members' teenage years) when the music is fueled by components as volatile as mockery and acerbity. That said, 3 X 3 for 3 1/2 stands as a fitting elegy to Calvin Krime's hysterical, sarcastic adolescent fury.