Casual Sex
The Bastard Beat
November 25 2013 (We Can Still Picnic/Tri-Trone)
8/10
Words: Dave Beech
The Facebook page of Glaswegian quartet Casual Sex, declares the music the band are making as 'sleaze' - nothing more, nothing less, and it's easy to see why. 'The Bastard Beat' EP is chock-full of dirty basslines, off-kilter grooves and lyricism that harbours all the bite and snarl of punk. It's dirty and guttural, but in the best kind of way
From the first moments of opening track 'Nothing On Earth', it's clear that as a band, Casual Sex are as debased as their name suggests. A loose, muted funk guitar forms the basis of the track whilst singer Sam Smith channels his inner Lou Reed for the vocal track. Conversely, later song, 'What's Your Daughter For' shuffles and limps it's way to it's conclusion, all the while purporting a more ominous feeling than the tracks that it proceeds. It really is hard to put any generic label on Casual Sex, each track featured on 'The Bastard Beat' EP exhibits something different from the last, even if it's just slightly at times, and it affords the record a huge sense of forward momentum. From the deranged almost psychobilly stylings of 'The Sound of Casual Sex' to the frenetic and jaunty titular track 'The Bastard Beat', nothing feels old or rehashed.
Having a professional sound engineer for a singer has definitely worked in the band's favour. The production across the whole of 'The Bastard Beat' is close to perfect, and it's what allows the record to feel like a singular entity, despite the varying nature of the tracks it contains. It's rare for a band with a sound that's inherently rough by it's nature, to sound this polished and this accomplished. And while it is still occasionally rough around it's edges, it is just an EP, and one can't help but think that this could be a launchpad for the band to go on to bigger things. Having already supported Franz Ferdinand on their recent tour of the States, it's clear that people are starting to sit up and take notice, and rightly so.
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