Pitchfork

It was Attack of the Unwieldy Band Names as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and This Song Is a Mess but So Am I shared two unique approaches to cathartic, bedroom music-making-- beneath a neon crucifix, no less-- at Chicago's church turned performance-space-cum-art-gallery, South Union Arts.

For TSIAMBSAI, it was all about spazz calisthenics performed over relentless, Xiu Xiu-esque beats played at ear-numbing decibel levels. Sounds pretty awful on paper, but it was surprisingly hypnotic to behold. Bathed in devilish red floodlights, This Song's Freddy Ruppert shrieked and flailed his way to salvation, and given the enthusiastic applause, it seemed his pew-seated audience was right there with him.

Casiotone literally utilized the church pulpit for his keyboards and delivered a lush, synth-pop sermon on being lonely, desperate, and twentysomething. While far too brief a set to get completely wrapped up in, Casiotone's Owen Ashworth conjured an impressive array of sounds from his fairly primitive set-up, putting those who stuck around in just the right mood to go home and sob into a dark corner somewhere. Amen, brother.

Pretty pictures and remaining dates are just a click away.

Casiotone returns to the South Union Arts next month, then trots the globe in an effort to reach out to painfully alone kids with messenger bags worldwide.

Bring Kleenex:

08-18 Chicago, IL - South Union Arts *
08-22 Brisbane, Australia - The Troubadour #
08-23 Sydney, Australia - Spectrum #
08-25 Adelaide, Australia - Jade Monkey #
08-26 Melbourne, Australia - Northcote Social Club #
08-29 Auckland, New Zealand - Schooner
08-30 Wellington, New Zealand - Happy ^
09-02 Madison, WI - James Madison Park (WSUM Party in the Park)
09-15 Berlin, Germany - Magnet Club %
09-16 Dresden, Germany - Scheune %
09-17 Schorndorf, Germany - Manufaktur %
09-18 Leipzig, Germany - UT Connewitz %
09-19 Darmstadt, Germany - Oetinger Villa %
09-20 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22 %!
09-21 Lund, Sweden - Mejerijt %
09-22 Gothenburg, Sweden - Kulturhuset Underjorden %
09-23 Copenhagen, Denmark - LAB %
09-25 Manchester, England - The Phoenix %
09-26 Nottingham, England - Liars Club at The Social %
09-27 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut %
09-28 Dublin, Ireland - Whelan's %
09-30 Bristol, England - Cube Cinema %
10-01 London, England - The Luminaire %
10-03 Lille, France - Le Grand Mix %
10-04 Paris, France - Le Divan Du Monde %
10-06 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso %
10-08 Rouen, France - Emporium Galorium %
10-10 Trier, Germany - Exhaus %
10-11 Freiberg, Germany - Swamp %
10-12 Lyon, France - Grnd Zero %
10-13 Barcelona, Spain - Apolo %
10-14 Madrid, Spain - Neu Club %
10-16 Düdingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn %
10-21 Graz, Austria - Veilchen at Forum Stadtpark %
10-22 Wien, Austria - Chelsea %
10-23 Prague, Czech Republic - Klub 007 Strahov %
10-24 Berlin, Germany - Ausland %

* with Mitre, Little Headhunter, Ben & Bruno
# with Clue to Kalo
^ with Over the Atlantic
% with the Dead Science
! with Amusement Parks on Fire

This Song Is a Mess also has a handful of seizures, er, dates left on his U.S. tour. Check the Greenville venue for proof that God does in fact exist:

07-25 New York, NY - Cake Shop
07-26 Brooklyn, NY - Goodbye Blue Monday
07-28 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head
07-30 Chapel Hill, NC - Night Light
07-31 Greenville, NC - The Spazzatorium
08-01 Jacksonville, FL - Moon Colony Razorblade
08-02 Deland, FL - house show
08-03 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
08-05 Houston, TX - Super Happy Fun Land
08-06 Austin, TX - TBA
08-09 Tucson, AZ - TBA
08-10 Phoenix, AZ - Trunk Space
08-11 San Diego, CA - Ché Café
08-12 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell