With their debut EP, Not Mathematics, currently causing a stir in all the right places, we asked our BOTW – Bristol alt-rockers Casimir – to put together a playlist of the tunes that have inspired their monumental, infectious indie. At 20 songs long, it’s a pretty in-depth blueprint of the four-piece’s sound, so listen on and discover.
From the off, it shows a debt to the emotionally vibrant post-hardcore that dominated US indie in the late 90s and early 2000s; the band’s chosen seminal cuts from Brand New and Sunny Day Real Estate mirroring the angular, bombastic choruses they favour on Not Mathematics, while the emotional intensity with which they present themselves is also covered by the inclusion of Bright Eyes’ histrionic ‘Haligh, Haligh, a Lie, Haligh‘ and the heart-on-sleeve honesty of The Twilight Sad’s ‘Talking With Fireworks/Here, It Never Snowed‘.
As the mix progresses, it heads for more progressive waters, taking in Sigur Rós, Radiohead and 65 Days of Static – all groups who have most probably influenced the quartet’s love of effects pedals; while the electronic tinge in many of their tracks is equally presented by Mount Kimbie and Boards of Canada. It’s a mix that’s only matched in its insight by its intensity, and as a window into what makes the Casimir boys tick, it’s unparalleled.
- Alex Cull
Not Mathematics is available now on Fear of Fiction.