Hot on the heels of their new album Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen, Casiokids light up a grey January evening in London with their Scandinavian electro-pop at Cargo. I’m not quite sure about the lyrics (they’re all in Norwegian), but these sound like love songs – and, like the band themselves, manage to pull off happy without ever being annoying.
Performance
Casiokids are unlike many of their contemporaries in two ways: 1) they don’t sacrifice a good tune for any kind of electro-racket, and 2) with their maracas and tambourines they actually look like they’re unselfconsciously having fun. Casiokids sound like they live in a perfect-pitch world filled with disco lights and sunshine, but at no point during the show do they transcend this world to really grab you – this is fun, but ultimately forgettable.
Setlist
Despite all the songs being in Norwegian, the crowd make a valiant effort to sing along. There is a good mix of crowd pleasers old and new, from Det Haster! to closer Fot i Hose, which sees the ceiling open up to rain confetti on the crowd. However – and it may just be the synths or the language barrier – there comes a point where all the songs begin to sound alike.
Crowd Interaction
Edgy they are not, but with their sunny electro-pop Casiokids still manage to get an initially too-cool-to-be-impressed crowd dancing by the end of their set. An enthusiastic introduction to Olympiske Leker – a song apparently about the 2012 Olympics – falls flat amongst a crowd who all look like they were picked last in gym class, but the band’s enthusiasm is infectious. For their final song a bemused-looking girl is dragged from the crowd and a guitar thrust into her hands. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Image
With their silly haircuts and smart shirts, Casiokids look a little like an early-Beatles tribute band. It wasn’t a good look the first time around and seems rather at odds with a sound rooted firmly in the 80s, but the wholesome look sort of works for a band far too happy to be ‘cool’.
Overall
All in all I’m left feeling like I’ve been to a school disco, inoffensive and complete with disco lights, smoke machines and confetti – and that vague sense of disappointment that nothing ever really happened.
Words by Hannah Lendrum
FOLLOW US
RSS FEED