Kalev (band)

Formed in mid-2004, in London, England, Kalev was a rock band with serrated noise textures, heavy beats, intertwining guitars and dark lyrics.

Kalev's live set was often played as one piece. The band professed interest [on their Myspace page] in the music of Depeche Mode, At The Drive-In / The Mars Volta, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Doors, Mark Lanegan, Tool and Joy Division.

The band released three singles, on Road Movie Revival and Owlsnake Records. The debut single, "Undoing", was released in November 2005 and charted at No.83 in the UK Pop Charts. The single was winner of the Zane Lowe BBC Radio 1 show 'Fresh Meat' listeners' poll.

The second single, "Cutting at Nothing", was released in April 2006 and charted at No. 3 in the UK Rock Chart. The single was winner of an XFM 'Drive-time' New Singles listeners' poll in the week of release.

A double 'a' side - 'Slight Death of You' / 'Glass Crowd' was released in May 2007.

Kalev recorded an 'Xposure' session with the XFM John Kennedy show in November 2005. They toured England, though not extensively; and headlined 'Club Frog' at the Mean Fiddler in London in April 2006.

Kalev's music, while typically possessing a strong rhthymnic pulse, varied song by song. A dark tone and tenor persisted throughout. Samples [often vocal-led, or found sound - based] were used for tone and narrative. Common themes to their lyrics: violence, sex and intoxication.

Live & single reviews featuring the band were published as well as Editorial New Release recommendations in the NME and Artrocker magazines. Artrocker published a feature piece on Kalev in July 2007. The band finished up in early 2008.