Calamine

Back in the day I'd spend hours listening to songs from struggling unsigned musicians at mp3.com. And every once in a while I'd stuble across something listenable. The cream of the crop was a band called Calamine, who actually later went on to some level of success when they recorded the main title song for Sealab 2020 on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Lead singer Julie Stepanek had a voice that made me instantly fall in love with her, or at the very least have a summer romance with. I liked their debut EP so much that I bought not one, but two copies off of CD Baby since I somehow lost my first copy after a few months of listening. Every once in a while I'd check their site for updates... to be repeatedly disappointed with no word on any additional upcoming releases. After a couple years, I gave up. From what I gathered, Julie had gotten hitched and abandoned her music career.

Alas, after years of silence Calamine has resurfaced with a bulk email I found in an email box I almost never check. Just as if it were kismet, destiny, whatever, Julie has announced that they have a new, full album coming out very soon and are accepting preorders.

I encourage all five of my readers to give Calamine a spin - you can listen to two songs off their new release in full, as well as most of the songs off their EP (if you want to cheat, click here for Trampoline, the song that first gave me butterflies in my stomach).

Now for enough sap - I need to polish up my newest short, "Magic Wand", so everyone can experience what I like to call "a comedy about abortion".