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Few band names—save maybe Throbbing Gristle or Something Corporate—more accurately evoke the music of their namesakes than Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. The name covers both the sound—a predominance of vintage Casio keyboards—and the ethos at work. But while CFTPA might be a fitting moniker for Owen Ashworth’s music, it does fail to signify the wry humor at work in some of his songs. For instance, in “Nashville Parthenon,” Ashworth sings (though “narrates” might be a better word for it) about loneliness (naturally) over a distant lover, but there’s a funny moment near the end, where he deadpans, “I still buy two pairs of everything / So when you come home, you and I’ll be twins.” Few bedroom indie popsters paint obsession with such keen detail.
Sun., June 28, 9 p.m., 2009
Sun., June 28, 9 p.m., 2009
