The Squealer, #9 November 1995.
This do-it-yourself effort packs its punch with brass knuckles. It strikes with harmonic fury, its distortion the breakfast of champions, the low-tech productions letting through some of the best frequencies. But will it cause genetic mutation? Stay tuned... (Paul Dickinson)

Magnet, Oct/Nov 1996.
Ah, two puns on one sleeve! "Veryfine" blasts off with miked-above-everything speak-singing wrapped around a darting blood clot of wobbly drumming and guitar keerunch. "Blood Flows Slow (Fight Song)" twists the old dual-vocalist theme, with different lyrics being delivered at once in opposite channels. "Bing Bing" pounds home this rusty nail with a bass-driven freight train of agit-punk. Best served without a tetanus shot. (Duane Arthur)

City Pages (Minneapolis News & Arts Weekly), 3/12/97.
Just when I thought the AmRep vehicle has exhausted its last punk fumes, the label turns around and signs a fresh local outfit called Calvin Krime. Granted, Dress for the Future's opener "Sean Na Na," filled with irritating screams and subpar drumming, might make you want to whip the CD across the room like a Ninja throwing star. But you'd miss the moody lure of "Aegis Shaker" and the pop punk dynamics of "Drag Dissonant" - the first song to make me pump my fist since Team Dresch's "107."

Calvin Krime's real strength is their surf/sci-fi tracks. By using various analog effects, "Steve Dude Vs. Taurus Too" invents something genuinely supernatural sans vocals - a perfect backdrop for a '60s B movie. (The track also features a masturbation fantasy tacked onto the end - "Sitting on top of a girl/ Sitting on top of the world" - whose cheekiness made me want to chuckle rather than take offense.) "Brand New Jason" bares Krime's sensitive side through lyrics that admit the boys shiver sometimes. This kind of intimacy saves Calvin Krime from being just another cock-rock-by- numbers band, and overall, their energy carries them when their crunch fails, making the band a much-needed addition to the AmRep fold. (Christina Schmitt)


Magnet, Jul/Aug 1997.

A tweaky three-piece outfit from St. Paul, Minn., that delivers rawk in geeky (and angry) fashion. Calvin Krime is wild eyed and wide open - a ferocious and fancy-free trio that doesn't stray from the AmRep m.o. but keeps it fresh. The band is as diverse as Kepone or Circus Lupus on the rock level and spews forth witty lyrics at various cadences. It seems Calvin Krime hangs its coat on the rhythm side, as the bass and drums carry the band through its chartered waters, letting the guitar flap and wail at will. The band evokes fond memories of another Midwestern group, Die Kreuzen, that changed the face of music (I think it was called hardcore back then). Sometimes Calvin Krime jumps ship, though, like on "Steve Dude vs. Taurus Too," a track that finds the band boarding the Six Finger Satellite boat and dorking with a bit of electronica. Thankfully, the trio doesn't stay long and returns to hitting you over the head. Let's hope Calvin Krime doesn't morph into bad rock like Die Kreuzen and continues to ply it's sonic musings until the apocalypse comes crashing down on us. (Greg Barbera)


Milk, #23.

Now THIS is pretty interesting -- the Unsane meets math rock. Well, not entirely, but that's still what springs to mind when I listen to the debut album from these demented youngsters. Too twisted and smooth to be pure math, but too involved and conceptual to be just another noise-rock band, Calvin Krime present a three piece barrage of sound that is artistically and intellectually competent, but still ultra groovy and rocking. Bursts of white noise filter their way through the tight, angular grooves formed by drummer Jason Ralph and bassist Sean Tillmann. Singer Jon Kelson is smart enough to let his voice yelp around and through the rhythms, rather than try and command the songs. Their excellend "Kids Incarcerated" single is included at the end of this album, rounding out such thumpers as "Aegis Shaker" and "Personal Earth Station" with some more bizarre ones like "My Flaming Arrow." Lyrics are straight from the psychiatrist's couch. Very good, indeed. (Alex McCown)

CAKE, #54/55.
This month, Amphetamine Reptile releases volum 11 in its Dope-Guns-N-Fucking In the Streets series. These are 4 songs, easily worth $2.50 a piece, which you can't afford to miss! Rocket From the Crypt - I shouldn't have to say more. Calvin Krime's "Fight Song" showcases the best use of dual-channel, dueling vocals this side of Jimi Hendrix's guitar. Damon from Trenchmouth helps to put this one over the top. Servotron has awakened a thirst in me I didn't know I had. Like Gatorade, it tastes best when you need it most. This is boy/girl circuitboard-sex heaven. Truly, the "Matrix of Perfection." Also a great track by Gaunt, a frenetic rush of pleasure. This record is highly recommended and available from AmRep at 2645 First Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, 55408. (Lauren Allen)


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