The Greatest Smiths Fan Ever: Casiotone For the Painfully Alone

Maybe there is something to be said for eclecticism, for diverging from the confines of a static musical formula, approaching every song as a rebirth. Sure. I'll buy that. But I think there's something equally as impressive in a rigid constriction that sieves in its design for a narrower, more laser-focused product with every effort. All of my favorites have always beaten the best ideas into the ground. And it's in this tapered avenue that Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's pop mournfully resides; a simple equation of towered, swap meet keyboards and beats, all set to the sentimental baritone of lone member Owen Ashworth. What sounds like a concept of somewhat limited potential, CFTPA is instead an experiment in the disparity of the consistent--the kind of flawless formula that composes all great pop bands.

In 1998, 22-year-old San Francisco zine author Owen Ashworth (best known at the time for the popular Wyatt Riot, a "fan zine" in tribute to Wyatt Cusack of Trackstar/Aisler's Set) decided--much to the dismissal of most of his peers--to begin playing out with his until then four-track only project, jokingly titled Casiotone For the Painfully Alone. The whole mess was something like a novelty act: a big guy in glasses sweating nervously, shaky hands dwarfing the tiny tinny junkstore keyboards at his fingertips as his graveled voice mutters simple stories under his breath. Song after song after song. But with the release of his debut record, Answering Machine Music (a record that I somehow manage to have three copies of in various formats), on his own short-lived label CassingleUSA, Ashworth made it clear that--in much the same way as previous GBoAT artists the Mountain Goats--repetition is the key to perfection.

Taking clear cues from some of John Darnielle's production ideals (with a dose of early Smog for good measure), Ashworth's recordings are awash in tape-hiss and over-driven treble. It's a sound that's a little difficult to stomach initially--with song after song a relentless onslaught of simple keyboard chords and filthy tape heads--but much like with most things marked by repetition, CFTPA yields a great deal with patience. Sentiment-soaked and deceptively simple--Ashworth chronicles in straightforward vignettes the middling malaise of adult mediocrity with pocket-sized portraits of discontented twentysomethings.

In 2000 Ashworth was approached by respected German electronic label Tomlab, who would soon release Pocket Symphonies For Lonely Subway Cars, Casiotone's sophomore album. Surprisingly more mature than his debut (especially considering that--sonically--it's nearly identical), Pocket Symphonies is themed around a loose concept of travel and escape; a vision that proves a perfect canvas for Ashworth's simple narratives. Twinkle Echo, its follow-up, is perhaps slightly less conceptually realized, but never-the-less features some of Ashworth's best material to date.

Over the years Casiotone For the Painfully Alone has toured extensively with the likes of the Rapture and Xiu Xiu, and have built themselves a modest (really--way too modest) cult nationally. Though Ashworth had initially intended Twinkle Echo to be the band's swansong, he has recently reconsidered his hasty decision with plans to begin working on new material sometime in the near future--though the future of Casiotone For the Painfully Alone still remains uncertain.

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For his stranglehold on my CD player over the last few years, and for being just a damned good friend to me, Casiotone For the Painfully Alone is this morning deservedly crowned the Greatest Band of All Time.