Call Security

“Call Security, a band comprised of five HWS students, was recently named the "Judges' Choice" winner at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center's 2013 Battle of the Bands held on May 24. Call Security was selected as one of the 10 finalists from roughly 50 contenders and was voted in by public demand. The band has won the opportunity to perform at Webster Hall in New York City, as well as 25 hours of studio recording time at The Recording Company, airplay on WEQX 102.7 and custom T-shirts and merchandise from Saratoga Statement.” - The Daily Update

The creation of Call Security’s debut EP, To Whom It May Concern, is unusual enough to be worth noting. The five-piece alt-rock band from upstate New York entered the Saratoga Performing Arts Center 2013 Battle of the Bands competition and named a Judge’s Choice winner from a field of 48 other bands. Call Security wisely chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth and put the awarded free studio time to good use. While this is the band’s first recording, if they are studio novices, detecting their inexperience is difficult. This immaculately produced debut glitters with strong production values that buttress claims of influence from bands like The Killers, Coldplay, and Neon Trees.
To Whom It May Concern opens with “Small Talk” and the band’s wholehearted embrace of melody is apparent thirty seconds in. It’s the guiding principle propelling “Small Talk” to its conclusion but, along the way, some surprising literary fireworks light up the song. The lyric is a sharply worded look at how we clutter our lives with meaningless chatter, but like any great text, there are larger meanings to uncover. It’s more about the self-created distances separating us from those we love and with whom we share our lives. Pairing this relatively dark lyric with such upbeat, even jaunty, musical backing creates an interesting contrast. “Hometown Hair” sparks to life thanks to big harmonies and deceptively simple piano playing. It’s a testament to the band’s artistic dexterity that they so nimbly keep toeholds in a variety of musical moods, but their balancing of melody and lyrical weight is near perfect on this track. There’s density in songwriting like this, but it never feels dead or rehashed. Instead, “Hometown Hair” sweeps through and has a refreshingly light touch.
“Lead Me On” takes a harder edged approach than the first two songs. Slashing guitars and muscular drumming kick open the door and the band that freely indulged listeners love for melody in the opening cuts sounds completely credible here. Some listeners might find themselves wishing for something a bit bluesy from the vocals, but that isn’t this band’s frame of reference. Instead, this is a rocker that falls within the wheelhouse of the band’s influences, but there’s more. It has stronger, quasi-punk rock energy and another biting lyric that thankfully doesn’t content itself with functionality. Guitars start us off again on “Already Gone”, but the melancholy, circular melody rejects the preceding song’s rock feel in favor of a folksier opening. The familiar six string flourishes return for another big Call Security chorus, but unlike earlier tracks, there’s a greater reliance on cliche here.
To Whom It May Concern concludes with “For the Better” has a lot of promise and another good lyric, but it never properly crescendos, particularly for a finale from a band like this. The chorus has an odd restraint that you never hear in earlier songs, even “Already Gone”, and the key is perhaps a need to make the rock elements a bit heavier. While there are a variety of melodic elements in the song, as there are in all Call Security material, there are scarcely more than half-sketched or exploited too little to matter.
This is a solid debut from a band with stronger songwriting skills than arranging skills. They remain a bit beholden to their influences in too many ways, particularly in following formulaic tempos and serving up well-worn guitar clichés, but they are talented players who show enough imagination to prove themselves capable of more. File Call Security under ‘Young Bands To Watch’ because, while this is a respectable first effort, there are far greater moments than this coming soon.
8/10 Stars - Skope Magazine

Pop rock has been frequently been replaced with pure pop, the guitar driven side of the genre lost and blown away by the four winds. A few bands manage to work in some guitar and a cohesive rhythm section into their sound, but not many. Along comes a relatively new quintet, Call Security that melds punk-y riffs, rollicking bass/drum arrangements, gripping vocals and a superlative amount of melody into their radio ready workouts. Although originality isn’t something in great quantity here, it’s still nice to hear pop get a little more meat on its bones.
Opener “Small Talk” is an instant hit thanks to the elevating and strongly crooned vocals, an irresistible keyboard lighting up the backline and pretty guitars with just a bit of rock n’ roll in them. It’s not rocket science, nor a reinventing of the wheel, but it works in exactly the way it needs to. The same can be said of the bright, caffeinated attack of “Hometown Hair.” The recording on these tunes is really impressive with production coming off as if it was done in an expensive studio with major label backing. While this isn’t the case with this band yet, everything sounds great. Ben Scheibel’s voice is right in front of the mix where it should be, the rhythm section of bassist Pete Keller and drummer Tucker Jennings has a lot of muscle, guitarist Michelle Poulin has plenty of spotlight on her six strings and the keyboards of Kathryn Middleton are a prominent feature. This unity in sound renders the songs plenty of power and “Lead me on” ratchets up the intensity a few notches all across the board with meaty guitars slamming out some harder, old school rock n’ roll alongside the indie glimmer flourishes.
Showcasing necessary variety in their songwriting, Call Security draws the curtain and dims down the mood on the acoustic glisten of “Already Gone.” Eventually, a bit of their Killers-esque energy whips the song into a boiling, summer sky mid-tempo full of catchy majesty. “For the Better” is even more restrained and closes the EP out with a smooth touch that values a good melody in sacrifice of electrified volume swells. These dynamics illustrate a band who have a multitude of compositional strengths and aren’t afraid to everything in their arsenal to get the point across to the listener.
The only thing dragging the score down a few points here is a familiarity with several big acts that have had popularity over the last few years. This hardly derails Call Security’s fine work here but it would be nice to see how they handle a full-length and see if they are capable of progress with the material just a bit. As it is, To Whom It May Concern is a very worthy collection of songs that doesn’t outstay its welcome and gives enough different flavors to be a solid listen. You may have heard this sound before, though this band possesses and knack for melodies and a panache that isn’t easily attainable to every bunch of average Joes that attempt to pull it off. For this and this alone, this is an enjoyable piece of work.
8 out of 10 stars - Indiemunity

The classic Killers sound of the early 2000s necessarily bears a certain nostalgia; indeed, alternative rock and indie have changed quite a bit since then. Even the band themselves has seemingly abandoned that sound in favor of a more pop-driven approach.

While I’d hardly say The Killers are an essential band, the level of accessibility they had for the quality of their early albums makes them a good goal post to compare against. It’s the first thing that comes to mind when listening to Providence, RI’s Call Security. I do hear a bit of Motherfolk in their sound as well.

“Laberge” is the group’s second EP, released in 2016. It’s short – only four tracks – but it’s nonetheless diverse. Beyond the aforementioned Killers influences, there are hints at pop-punk on Eggshells and a folky, Beatles-esque sound on Thorn and Tides. Vocalist Ben Scheibel has an interesting timbre that I have very little to compare against. I would say his voice is the “it factor” of the band; while their music certainly is compelling, the unique quality of the vocals really take things to the next level.

Of course, I’d be remiss if there was any sense that there was any ounce of neglect to the instrumentation. Guitars are crisp and almost ska-like at times. Bass is audible but not too busy. Drums and percussion maintain a strong groove that keeps the songs exciting.

Overall, Call Security’s music is refreshingly-upbeat without indulging too much into cliché or triviality. Yes, there’s a underlying focus on relationships at times. However, these concepts are communicated with a fine poeticism. The group finds the fine balance between pop-friendliness and a true appreciation for their craft.

Although it’s easy to think alt-rock died years ago, “Laberge” (and the rest of Call Security’s catalogue) reminds listeners that simply isn’t the case.

Be sure to check out the band on social media and listen to their new single Sandcastles below: - Peeridium