Above all else, I like the vocals on this record. A baritone is a rare thing in popular music. In fact the most overtly masculine, sort-of-low-end vocals which easily come to mind would probably be the pithy retorts of Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand). While perhaps fun, those floppy, sexed-up lip noises are not the most sincere. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone interjects something honest and maybe just a tiny bit Postal Service into the thrilling deep sea of low-range singing.

These vocals are gruff, forceful and yet liquefied to emotive perfection by the rhythmic coldness of synthesizers and drum loops. Imagine hearing the whispered histrionics of a good friend while standing right next to a cranked stereo insistent on reminding everyone about the pressing issues of the post-computer musical landscape. Casiotone’s sound is not delicate, like many contemporary electropop-indie bands; It retains a valuable intensity from the early forays into synth music or perhaps from the latter-day European synth-pop.

While a few of Etiquette’s songs lack the overt electro influences, the album is most commercially viable at those points. Of course, the delightful paradigm of humanity in lyrics and digital musical references is made possible by the narrative work of Ashworth. His time in film school might indicate a certain story-telling acumen which certainly translates into songwriting. Every song is an individual framework of deliciously personal thoughts and feelings. The lyrics are the originally compiled pieces of plausible conversations made more compelling by all the fuzzy, shifting interment sounds carefully interwoven.