Casiokids
Barfly, London
25/02/2010

It’s a bloody cold night and the rain is pouring, but the prospect of seeing the feisty Casiokids has left Camden’s Barfly sold-out.

When openers Skibunny get onstage at 8pm sharp however, the venue hasn’t yet reached half of its capacity. It’s a shame because they’ve got what it takes to entertain a much larger crowd with their catchy electro rock and massive choruses. Singer Tanya keeps asking the audience to move closer to the stage, and bassist Mark seems to be possessed by his instrument. After a few songs, an Afghan Whigs cover and a broken keytar, Skibunny leave a room that’s way busier than when they arrived.

Following are Dimbledy & Capper, who boast a vocalist in Laura Bettinson who has the sort of charisma that almost makes you forget her four bandmates. The moody arrangements and jazzy-pop orchestrations they unleash together are a treat, but sometimes seem to hide the real potential of the singer’s strong voice.

Radical change of atmosphere with Casiokids. The Norwegians purvey a sense of simplicity, a dancey feel-good vibe that rapidly spreads through the audience, and there’s something dreamy and summery in their music; a genius mix of electro pop, indie guitars and Afrobeat. Multi-instrumentalist Omar literally mimes the music through the elaborate medium of body language and seems to be observing something no one else can see. The pleasant thing with Casiokids is that rather than confronting the audience and being all in-your-face, they engage their fans in a gentle manner and are incredibly polite. Tonight is special as it’s Fredrik’s 28th birthday: “Tonight is not about you guys, it’s all about Fredrik!” says one of his bandmates to the crowd before launching into speculation about Fredrik’s real age.

After about an hour of keyboards, cowbells, Norwegian-singing and position-switching, Casiokids end their set with killer track ‘Fot i Hose’. And they almost make us forget there’s a deluge waiting outside.

Christian Pambrun