Casiotone 4 Th Painfully Alone – “Young Shields ” – [Tomlab]

Laconic, ironic, squelchaphonic pop tarts from Owen Ashworth.
Tarts as in bitter. The Prince cover on the flip side aims
to underwhelm the listener with droopy vocals, hyperdorkoid
keys and a beat that moves like a Bozo punching-bag. I assume
one goal is to have the listener go, “Wait…that’s, no it,
yeah it is…”. And then to add spelling to injury the title
is printed out as “When You Were Mine.” R U okay? Anyways
maybe the juxtaposition is the justification, as the pop
song on the A-side is lyrically smarter and more smarting.
Again irony runs rich in the anemic blood stream, but it’s
now mixed with a swirl of nihilism and the Casiotone gets
pushed about 37 clicks to the right of the ultra-limp preset
on the Prince cover. This song’s got more drive, I could see
someone hooking this up to a Basic Channel bassline, like
pumping the 98-lb weakling up with steroids. The lyrics are
of the teenage wasteland variety, so that’s sure to be a
hit with the in-crowd of outcasts. Owen, you’re not alone.
Again the words, the rhyming, the meter and delivery are
all excellent on “Young Shields.” Look forward to a full
album devoid of covers, and aiming straight for the heart of
today’s cultural void. -Thurston Hunger