Music Review: Aurelio Valle, Acme Power Transmission

By Melissa Bratcher

Not only does Calla front man Aurelio Valle’s debut solo album have one of the best titles of the year (Acme Power Transmission, named after his landlord’s auto parts store), it is also one of the most interesting, atmospheric records I’ve heard in 2014. It could be the score for the next True Detective season, awash in mystery, dark places, and hushed echoes. While not explicitly about a specific place, it has a great feeling of place and specificity.

Acme Power Transmission is a result of Valle’s hiatus from the music business. After fronting Calla for a decade, Valle felt something was missing and so changed his path. He wanted to “grow as a maker of things.” He apprenticed as a motorcycle mechanic and helped a friend who is a bespoke tailor, while also experimenting with different recording techniques in his home studio with no eye (or ear) to releasing the results.

While Acme Power Transmission isn’t the direct result of those recording sessions, they are a result of that time and are a reflection of this loose, experimental, improvisational time. It’s an amazing record. It feels like a giant secret, like an unexpected delight.

Brass bands, Afro beats, driving strings, and a quiet vastness color Acme Power Transmission. The instrumental track “Kino” roils with steady bass notes that evoke standing on an empty plain as a storm rolls in. The other instrumental track, “Centuries,” boasts a synth reminiscent of Wendy Carlos’s A Clockwork Orange score with strings and piano playing counterpart.

Aurelio Valle’s vocals are usually hushed to a whisper, like on the industrial (but not hard) “Superhawk,” with its low down bass interrupted by ticking and backwards tape (but is it tape anymore? Isn’t it just digital?) and a bit of brass. “Cowboy” is vast and expansive with the same quiet, seductive vocals and a cinematic quality, and ends in a way that feels like film burning in a projector. “Movement” is dirty and a bit sexy with insinuating vocals and insistent strings.

Nina Persson (Cardigans, A Camp) takes the vocals on “Electraglide,” a departure from the quietness of the album. It’s not a change in tone, but a shot of adrenaline with her shiny vocals.

The album closer, “Lost Again,” is a perfect capper. A stripped down, atmospheric cover of the Yello chestnut, it’s moving and scary and heartrending, an exhaled breath at night.

Acme Power Transmission sounds like the soundtrack to a movie that I want to watch. With quiet urgency, mystery, and layers of intrigue and interest, Aurelio Valle tells a fascinating story that leaves the listener room for interpretation.

Acme Power Transmission was released on May 30 from Nuevo Leon Recordings.