Cassels
Hating Is Easy
July 6 2015 (Big Scary Monsters/Idiot King Recordings)
7.5/10
Words: Alison Mack
The Beck brothers of Oxfordshire's punk duo Cassels could well be the south's answer to the Loveless siblings, judging by this debut EP. After they put out double A-side single ‘We Wander In The Night/Rinse And Retreat’ last year, and gave a pre-release taste of the EP's title track, the whole package of four cleverly worked tracks nicely sets out their stall.
Built around a brutal, yet controlled, sound, they balance raw power and tight grunge riffs with a punk aesthetic and socially charged lyrics which resonate strongly with the mood of today's disaffected youth, with themes of isolation, boredom and disillusionment.
The title track is all about the cut and thrust of bombastic drums and sharp guitar, with vocals edging in to declare around the two-minute mark in a contemplative break, “I would love you, but loving is scary/so I hate you/hating is easy”, before a manic build-up again that fires on all engines to the finish.
'I Swept Right' is less hard thrust, more hard indie-punk. There's the incisive shot lyric-wise - “Chivalry’s dead/shot him square between the eyes/Romance is dead/no-one to bury her deep between your thighs” that comes in a softer interlude amidst the rest of the serrated three-minutes-plus.
The sub two-minute ‘666 Feet’ is a fast moving out-and-out punk blaster, that belts out their young, precocious talent to all, while ‘Sights For Sore Eyes’ closes the EP with fuzzy opening chords that propel it to a frenetically angular driven intensity.
The Becks have made impressive inroads over the last year, and with this first EP and a live show that lives up to their recorded sound, Cassels look ready and set to go on green light to be the next big two-man buzz.
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