CD: Casiokids - Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

Bergen’s going to be pretty cold in January, but Aabenbaringen over aaskammen by the Norwegian city’s Casiokids will thaw the most frozen of feet. Their twinkly, occasionally Afro-assisted, sometimes New Order-ish electropop brings a smile too.

Casiokids have been on the radar for half a decade, but Aabenbaringen over aaskammen is only their second album proper, following 2006’s Fück midi. Since then, there’s been a smattering of singles and 2010’s compilation/remix album Topp stemning på lokal bar. Aabenbaringen over aaskammen's 11 tracks include a remake of “London Zoo”, first heard on a Record Store Day seven-inch last year. Despite its title meaning “the revelation over the mountain”, Aabenbaringen over aaskammen isn’t quite the clean step forward it might initially seem.

They’ve focused on keeping it tight, reining in their tendency to meander. Only a couple of tracks break the four-and-a-half-minute mark. Still, pop songs – which is what Casiokids are about – don’t need to be that extended. Yet what’s here is enough to banish thoughts about that and whether their moment might have passed so long after Hot Chip claimed this particular electropop crown.

That they sing in Norwegian is no barrier to being won over by Aabenbaringen over aaskammen. After the sleepy, sun-arising instrumental overture of the title track, “Det haster!” lurches from the speakers. Bouncing bloopily along, its minor-key melody nags away pretty damn quick. Their high-pitched vocals and penchant for a sugary melody places Casiokids close to the recently split Danish band Oh No Ono and one samey track can bleed into the next, but it’s the album’s introspective side that sticks. “London Zoo” is the peak, neatly balancing insistent rhythm and a keening choir-boy melody. The album’s closer, “Aldri ska me ha det gøy”, is an aural sigh. Although electronic, Casiokids are also plugged into the emotional circuit board too.

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Watch the video for “Det haster!” from Casiokids’ Aabenbaringen over aaskammen