Customer Reviews

Handbag Memoirs

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

PAS/CAL is amazing, simply and beautifully joyous to the ears. I go to all their concerts that I am physically able to, which limits me to the Detroit area, their and my hometown. As for the EP, it's beautiful. At their latest show at a record store in Dearborn, lead singer and guitarist Casimer Pascal explained their technique for naming albums. The first EP, called 'The Handbag Memoirs' does not have the song "The Hadbag Memoirs" on it. That's on the next EP...'Oh Honey, We're Ridiculous' which (surprise surprise) doesn't have the song titled "Oh hony, We're Ridiculous." That's on the next one. The explaination? "Because we're clever like that!"

This album is wonderful. So are they. If you catch them at a show, bassist Nathaniel Burgundy will give you a felt heart to show your love for the band:

Lead Vocals/Guitar: Casimer Pascal
Lead Guitar: Gene Corduroy
Bass:Nathaniel Burgundy
Guitar: Trevor Mott
Drums: LTD (Little Tommy Daniels)
Keyboards: Richard Panic

I must warn the sassy boys in Detroit's Pas/Cal to beware the allure of the perfect pop song. They're getting awful close with this, their debut EP, and it might just be their undoing. On the other hand, they could become something incredible.

Allow me to clarify by going into more detail. The first three songs on this six-song CD represent a yin to the second set of three songs' yang. The first half finds the band reaching for an ideal of what could only be described as "the most shimmeringly perfect pop song EVER." Singer and all-around main guy Casimer Pascal has one of those glassy, smooth voices that are built to make smarmy pop songs; custom made for crystal-shattering high notes, but most often comfortably and clearly settled into the register that would send most male singers' voices through their noses. Poor Dan Bejar of Destroyer would probably kill to be able to sing his wonderful melodies through a voice like Mr. Pascal's, instead of straining and having what must be his least favorite adjective, "adenoidal," constantly heaped upon him. But then again, maybe Bejar would want none of it, and maybe Pascal and Pas/Cal would do better with some rough edges. But this all comes back to the two very distinct halves of the EP.

As I was saying, the first half can only be described as "shimmering." Echoes of Beach Boys harmonies here and there, heaps of Belle and Sebastian's foppishness (and look at that cover art!). These first three numbers are jaunty, and the production is so tight, I can't imagine that there's a single wavelength of sound out of place. The songs are growers, to be sure. The irresistible "go-hoah-ho!" at the end of the chorus of the opener, "The Bronze Beached Boys Of Summer (Come on Let's Go)," is impossible to not sing along to, and only a soulless boor wouldn't eventually warm up to the the bounce of "I Wanna Take You Out In Your Holiday Sweater."

But the problem sometimes is that all this is so meticulously put together that it almost loses any heart. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that things necessarily need to be sloppy to show heart. Life by The Cardigans (which would make a good "RIYL" for this CD) might be the most exactingly arranged CD I've ever heard, but it's oozing with love and sweetness that feels so real. It takes a little more to drag the heart out of the first three tracks of this CD. I want to feel like Pascal is smiling as he's singing, but I suspect he's got the smug look of someone who's finally made the songs sound exactly right. I could be wrong though. Anyway, lets move on to the second half, because though the first half is good, the real meat of the matter is in tracks four and six (sorry five, I'll explain you in a second).

The closing track of the EP, "This Ain't For Everyone," might not even be by the same band that did the first three tracks, it's so loose and heartfelt. The vocals definitely share the Stuart Murdoch/old, old, old Bowie vibe that the whole CD has, but the wide-open production of acoustic guitars and assorted other instruments floating around in space. If the first three tracks are a flawless and precisely tailored suit, these tracks are the comfy t-shirt you wear after the cocktail party. "Marion/Mariam," the instrumental track five, is the head-scratcher for me; A neat little instrumental that pretty much goes nowhere, but not even in a nice, meditative "going nowhere" way. It just goes nowhere. But what it does do is give you a moment to recover from the prize of this CD, which I've saved for last, because it deserves it.

"Grown Men Go Go" rages through exactly 61 seconds of what might be the best song I've heard in months. Six verses, no chorus, two-second Farfisa freakout, another two-to-three second multiple-trumpet solo and a positively burning rhythm section all crammed into a hair over a minute, yet it doesn't feel crowded or rushed or anything. The way that "Gold Star For Robot Boy" by Guided By Voices could not possibly be any longer than it is, "Grown Men Go Go" is a brilliant one-minute song that feels like three. It's as if Pas/Cal became a band so that, if nothing else, they could give this song to the world. So my advice to Pas/Cal: ease up, guys. You clearly have the chops to make some of the most perfect pop music ever, so instead of fretting about and polishing it to a shine, just rock it out and let it perfect itself.

Martin Pavlinic
February 6, 2003
Junkmedia Review

I am so embarassed that a Saturn commercial brought my attention to this remarkable band. 'The Blonde Beached Boys' caught my ears during a commerical break and I immediately went on the web to find out who it was (www.whatsthatcalled.com is a great site).

This debut EP showscases a band that knows exactly who they are and what they are good at. They make the difficult process of creating smart pop music seem simple and obvious. The production is so effortless you cannot imagine the songs recorded any other way. And the entire thing is done by the band.

Just when I thought pop music was dead, I found Pas/Cal.

Just simply an excellent first EP (the follow up is a good second effort, but this one is better). The very careful way the songs are recorded is simply great; you can read other reviews and see folks compare them to Belle & Sebastian and the Beach Boys, and I guess that works, but the songs have a very original feel to them. Everything from the vocal arrangements to the hand claps to the clever lyrics just make this an EP that's getting heavy rotation out here at my place on the west coast.

Pas/Cal's debut ep is a fine taste of things to come, naturally leaving you wanting more. It's not exactly the most original record, on first listen you begin chucking "-esque" comparisons to three seminal bands starting with the letter B: Beach Boys, Beatles, Belle & Sebastian. Of course, the question is whether band can rise above their peers, which on "Handbag Memoirs", they don't quite, not yet at least. But what you get here is enjoyable and appealing, not earth-shattering, with at least one gloriously perfect pop song in "The Bronze Beached Boys".

have you ever seen these guys live? oh dear god, so awfully boring. casimer pascal needs to get over himself.