PAS/CAL
The spark that ignited PAS/CAL's pop flame was provided by a dubious dare to the group: in one night improvise & record a pop song with the wit, charm and craft of a masterwork that had been labored over for months. The challenge proved fruitful and rewarding, spurring on more efforts to create smart pop pieces for the subversive set. Thus was planted the seed that germinated into the phenomenon we know today.
In early 2003, PAS/CAL's debut EP The Handbag Memoirs met critical success with attention to finely tuned detail, clever lyrical references and an upbeat yet melancholic pop polish. Track number one, The Bronze Beached Boys (Come On Let's Go), eventually found its way to television through a Saturn commercial.
Over the next three years two EPs (Oh Honey We're Ridiculous & Dear Sir) and two split 12" records (Seasons Greetings split with Asobi Seksu & Summer split with La Laque) are issued. The band doubles in size & equally ups its musical ante at its newly-constructed headquarters, the Romantic Air Recording Workshoppe. From this deeply-receded fortress the band piece together their songs, each replete with complex movements, melodies that haunt the heart and arrangements that would turn George Martin's head. 'What Happened To The Sands' rocks & bounces along with great aggression & equal tenderness; 'Poor Maude' details the titular character's dying wish for, well, death; 'What Do The American Girls Have On Jennifer Jo Jo?' warns our young heroine of the terrible facts of living in a cold, uncaring world; 'Summer Is Almost Here' goes from seemingly fey summerpop to a foreboding warning-bell referencing Arthur Miller's "Air Conditioned Nightmare".
Since its inception PAS/CAL has sought to spread the word according to its peculiar pop gospel. Three EPs on Le Grand Magistery, two 12" split singles on their own Romantic Air label and a handful of appearances on compilations have showcased to the world the band's mixture of sinister and sweet, perversity and prudence - all dressed up in deceptively catchy and meticulously arranged tunes with hooks that would make Johnny Marr jealous and turn Serge Gainsbourg's head. Accompany this with a penchant for colorful outfits and unique stage performances known to include actors, props and special effects and you are getting close to the complete PAS/CAL picture.
PAS/CAL took all of 2007 off---and a bit of 2006---to write and record their long awaited and overdue debut LP provocatively entitled, I Was Raised On Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Laura. They are ecstatic with the outcome ("It's epic!" -Richard Panic) and happily look forward to seeing it released in early 2008 via the Le Grand Magistery imprint.
On their forthcoming release, PAS/CAL is lead by singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Casimer Pascal with help from Richard Panic on all keyboard oriented instruments, Nathan Burgundy on bass, the incredibly powerful LTD on drums, and guitarists Gene Corduroy and Trevor Naud.
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