Phone Calls From Home – One And Done

Phone Calls From Home – One And Done
Album Review By Taylor Pittman

One Hit Wonders. They’re catchy. They’re contagious. They’re some of our favorite guilty pleasures. Phone Calls From Home took note of this and put their own twists on some of the best one hit wonders of the 80’s and 90’s for their newest EP One and Done. Your initial reaction to their decision to release an entire EP of only cover songs (especially those of earlier decades) may be that the songs would come off as more of a recorded karaoke night. Boy, did they prove everyone wrong.

The EP starts off with Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” An 80’s dance jam and a radio station’s Flashback Lunch favorite, the original song relies on a dramatic chorus consisting of strings and a hint of electronic beat. Phone Calls From Home wasted no time adding their own style to the song with the initial guitar beat. With this consistent pace and a drum beat to tap your foot to, their finished product turned out to be just as catchy and thankfully less cheesy. Lead singer Dave Place’s voice replacing the dramatic vocals of Astley may have helped with the cheesy factor, too.

Up next, we have “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” from Deep Blue Something released in the mid-90’s. The second the song starts, you can tell it’s not going to stick to the peaceful tone of the original. Speeding up a classic such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is quite the risk, but it’s a risk that paid off. The group has already surely showed off their acoustic skills (check out their primarily acoustic EP Rain and Snow), so their decision to elevate this classic was just another chance to show their fans that they can do it all.

Next, the band decided to take on “(I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles” by The Proclaimers. Initially, I thought it was impossible for any band to add their own style to this song, much less do it successfully. The original song has a steady beat perfect for marching along and vocals full of heavy accents. Phone Calls From Home decided to place more of a slow melody between choruses then explode with the previously mentioned marching beat within each chorus. The contrast definitely works to their advantage.

“(I Just) Died In Your Arms” by Cutting Crew and released in the late 1980’s could also be described as a little dramatic. The quartet kept up with the dramatic tone of the vocals, which seemed fitting especially when noting the title of the song. They added their own spin on the song with a faster pace and even additional backup vocals after the flawless guitar solo.

If you’re familiar with “We Built This City” originally made famous by Starship, you may not even recognize the classic tune when you first listen to the revamped version from the group. The pop song gets a rock makeover and even some lyric alterations. For instance, the runaways that were “eating up the night” in the 80’s with Starship are now “tearing up the night” with Phone Calls From Home. Changes like this along with a heavier guitar presence give a modern vibe to the song making it one of the more unique covers.

The EP ends with the two oldest songs: “Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny” and Michael Sembello’s “She’s a Maniac.” Because the 80’s music scene was so unique, taking on two defining songs of the first half of the decade comes with decisions about maintaining the original sound or creating a whole new one. Luckily, Phone Calls From Home did both. With Tommy Tutone’s classic, the group kept the same beat that is consistent throughout the original song in their own verses and threw in their own unique guitar sounds during the chorus adding a dramatic effect. For their take on “She’s a Maniac,” the quartet decided to dump all of the electronic sounds that define a good 80’s pop song and replaced them with a ton of guitar shredding. This version will get you dancing in your Chuck Taylors just as much as the original did.

It doesn’t matter if you grew up with these classics or your parents did. Every song seems new and fresh thanks to the little details the group added to make each song their own. All of these classics were one hit wonders at one time or another, but they’re all making a comeback thanks to Phone Calls From Home.

Go pick up the album on iTunes and enjoy an acoustic original song as a bonus track! http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/one-and-done/id512001699

Overall rating: 5/5
Website: http://www.facebook.com/phonecallsfromhome