Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – Town Topic EP

Weighing in at a little over 22 minutes, but with no lessthan 15 songs, the latest EP from Casiotone For The PainfullyAlone is an intriguing affair.

A combination of new material andre-worked songs from previous albums, it opens with the track Ice CreamTruck, which Owen Ashworth, the band’s sole member, has been previewingat live shows during the course of this year. As the name implies, itfeatures a melodic chime which wouldn’t be out of place in the presenceof Mr Whippy.

Indeed, the whole EP has a rather hazy, playful, and at times gentlefeel to it – almost dreamlike, in fact. There are a succession ofinstrumentals, including slowed-down reinterpretations of I LoveCreedence and Nashville Parthenon, both of which originally featured onthe album Etiquette (2006). New track Lesley Gore On The Tami Show alsobops along in a jaunty, wordless way.

The tweaking and tinkering of past material continues with TwinkleEcho (Reverse) doing exactly what it says on the tin, taking the titletrack from his 2003 album and playing it backwards. He’s just that zany!It’s also given an extended right-way-round treatment in the Echo(Redux) version, a little later on.

There’s a distinct change of tack with I Like Common, which isreplete with throbbing bass, and this continues through the next fourtracks, which all hover around the 30 second mark. These aren’t terriblysatisfactory, as they stand – they feel as if they’re just gettingstarted, before abruptly finishing.

OMG would be particularlyinteresting to hear in an extended version, as it is a clear nod toOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, that contains a Popcorn-styleeffect from Enola Gay. Things are rounded off with Green Cotton Sweater(Version), which is drenched in distortion, but when stripped of thiswould otherwise be a ballad.

All in all, it’s a rather lovely little EP featuring Pallett’s trademarkCasiotone-playing wizardry, which will hopefully give rise to bigger andbetter versions of the delightful musical nuggets contained herein.