Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

Personnel: Matias Monsen (cello); Bjornar Habbestad (flute); Ingeborg Stoen (accordion); Mattis Eng (trumpet).
Casiokids' second album, Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen, begins with a stately, quietly majestic song that sounds like the pastoral opening theme to a film about dragon quests or fairy uprisings. It's very pretty but you wonder what happened to the manically gleeful dance-poppers of Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar. Did they grow up and get serious? Did they fall victim to believing they were artists and not goofballs who made you want to dance, not "think"? Track two puts those worries and fears to bed with no supper. "Det Haster!" kicks off with a stomping glam rock beat and glittery, oscillating synths, and sounds like a low-budget theme to a bad '70s cop show (in a good way!). The rest of the album is just as bright and fun, rollicking and rolling through 40 minutes of off-kilter dancefloor jams with only a few small pit stops for some atmosphere (like the short instrumental "Dr. Tarzan Monsoon" and the weepy ballad "Aldri Ska Me Ha Det Goy," which closes the album on a sad note). Although the album seems like silly fun on the surface, there is enough complexity to the interlocking synth lines and clattering rhythms to give the music some weight. Ketil Kinden Endresen's vocals, too, anchor the record in reality, his quavering falsetto floating above the dancefloor like a bruised cherub. At their best, Casiokids have the kind of impact that LCD Soundsystem do, practically commanding you to dance. Almost daring you not to. The less compelling moments have a charming lightness that will just make you feel happy, and that's almost as important. If they keep putting out records like Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen, Casiokids will (hopefully) never be mistaken for deep thinkers or "real" artists, but that's OK. There are enough of them out there cluttering up the airwaves; we need bands like Casiokids, who traffic in giddiness and joy just as much, if not more. ~ Tim Sendra