Cayetana

Hot Dad Calendar b/w Ella [7-inch] (2014)

Joe Pelone

After a promising demo, Philly power trio Cayetana is back with a record label (the mighty Tiny Engines) and a 7" (Hot Dad Calendar, rawr). These two new tunes find the band continuing down an indie rock path akin to P.S. Eliot, although there's a bit of jangle in guitarist/vocalist Augusta Koch's strum that recalls early R.E.M. and Pylon. Basically, it's good stuff.

It's kind of funny that Cayetana could craft a sad yet determined song about feeling stagnant and overgrown in one's parents' house, give it a great backbeat and a huge chorus, and then go and call it "Hot Dad Calendar." At the very least, it gives the lines "Kid you'll be ok / You get better with age" a second meaning. Sad lyrics mixed with happy music always go down well.

"Ella," which graces the B-side, continues to explore quarter life crises, this time through a relationship. Koch sings about a very specific moment: waking up in a preverbal state, not knowing where her significant other has gone and fearing the worst. It feels a little undercooked compared to "Hot Dad Calendar." The rhyme scheme is all over the place and the instrumentation never quite takes off like on the A-side. It has some delayed gratification going on, like it wants to take off after the first verse but it never quite achieves lift. It's good, not great, but the 7" still shows Cayetana growing more comfortable and assured with each release.