As you may have gathered from my subtle references in these articles, I like a good drink. Oh so often when there’s a good drink, second drink follows, and then possibly a third, and then the inevitable hangover. As I find myself getting older, my hangovers have gotten progressively worse. Progressively and epically worse. I went from shaking them off with a glass of water and an Advil, to lying in bed for twelve hours in the dark with a long sock tied around my eyes. The sock sounds weird but the reality of the situation is I really need it to block out the light. Usually during these situations, I’ll have Velvet Underground playing. A guy in pain listening to Velvet Underground in the dark is what you would call a cliché. But some times there’s nothing wrong with a cliché, especially if it works.
The problem is, you can only listen to Lou Reed talk/sing for so long before you start to think about killing yourself. I needed something that had the vibe of The Underground, but didn’t push me to suicidal tendencies. The band I found to take that position just released their first single last month. This week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Casual Sex (The scottish guys. Not the guys from Finland)
Casual Sex is a foursome fronted by former Mother and the Addicts front man Sam Smith, with Peter Masson on bass, Edward Wood on Guitar, and Chris McCrory. These guys hail from Glasgow, Scotland. They mash together the sounds of post-punk and glam rock with a dusting of Clash like new wave into a mess that reeks of the best parts of the 80’s (the music, not the whole coke and no AIDS bit). This week marked the release of their first single for the Moshi Moshi singles club. That single is titled Stroh 80.
According to xworldmusic.com Sam Smith attests the song is “about being caught doing the nasty with your girlfriend’s pal in the aftermath of a drug party on the floor of a local occultist”.
Whatever dude….
The song ain’t bad for a debut single. It’s minimalist upbeat track with Smith’s Lou Reed sound-alike voice is in full effect. I 
wouldn’t be surprised if this song shows up in the next indie-darling movie that people can’t stop quoting. It’s that type of song.
The real trouble with a new band like this is there isn’t a whole lot of information or material for me to draw from. This is their first release on a label. Prior to that the band had only put out a few singles and EP’s. The song National Unity is a fun jam that actually reminds me more of the Mt. Saint Helen’s Vietnam Band than Velvet or the Clash. I couldn’t find the studio release on Youtube. You can check it out on Spotify. In the meantime here is a live version. The quality is shit, but you can get the just of it.
You know it’s a small show when the applause at the end sounds like there are fewer than eight people in the room. That’s including the band as well. I also can’t help but laugh at the guy who crosses right in front of the camera obscuring our pixilated view of the camera.
My very favorite track of theirs thus far is the Bowie style throw back Bastard Beat. IT’s stop go vocals and the simplistic drum and other worldly guitar make it an instant hit with my ears.
https://soundcloud.com/casual-
These guys only have a handful of songs out, there just isn’t a whole lot to pull from. What you need to do is add Stroh 80 to your rotation and await their upcoming album. The tracks out are slices of early 80’s heaven that will no doubt be the backing my next nauseated hangover battle. be on board with these guys early before the band wagon starts. Their SoundCloud has some stuff that you can really get down to. Check it.
Big hugs,
Kelly
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