Tripe. It’s what graces the cover of Cassels’ third album, A Gut Feeling. It looks gross. And Cassels are a rock band who’ve often sounded gross -- ‘Discordant’, ‘Angular’, ‘Cynical’.

Listening to A Gut Feeling, though, Cassels sound different. Not too different – the molten riff of advance single ‘Mr Henderson Coughs’ puts paid to the idea that the London-based duo have taken a hard 180. But instead of writing as quickly as possible, riding the churn forced on DIY bands by an indifferent ecosystem, the Covid-19 pandemic gave the brothers Beck (Jim, guitar/vocals, and Loz, drums/BVs) some time to mull things over. Instead of sticking with the stripped-back recording approach of previous LPs, Jim and Loz spent time at Tom Hill’s Bookhouse Studios in South London, considering tone, layering tracks, and bringing new instruments into the fold.

Lyrically, the approach has changed too. Rather than presented as personal experience, Jim notes that his words this time around “are an intentionally muddy mix of experience, opinion, red herrings and fiction,” adding, “I found that setting myself the brief of writing character pieces offered a nice way of sneaking quite personal things into the songs without being explicitly autobiographical.”

The result is the most satisfying and unexpected collection of songs in the Cassels catalogue. Instruments at turns razor-sharp and bludgeon-blunt provide the backing track to a savage, hilarious, and tender collection of short stories. Jim notes that “writing can be a great way of unearthing hang-ups and becoming acquainted with your own anxieties”. Hardly new ground for a rock band but presented in this third person format – unbiased and filled to the brim with human warmth – these songs are more empathetic than anything the band have written before. You might have been Michael on his daily commute. Perhaps you’re Sarah, or have a mum like her. And many of us will recognise ourselves in the heart-breaking ‘Family Visits Relative’.

It’s clear that the band still aren’t afraid to tackle weighty subjects too, with A Gut Feeling picking up where their previous album, The Perfect Ending, left off. ‘Charlie Goes Skiing’ pulls a similar trick to Future of the Left’s ‘Goals in Slow Motion’ – setting a screed against consumerism to one of the most propulsive, catchy tracks on the record. It’s followed by ‘Dog Drops Bone’, a rustling loop overlaid with sad, simple chords reminiscent of a Sparklehorse tune, which uses the internal monologue of a beloved canine companion to question the true depth and sincerity of human relationships. This kicks into the breakneck ‘Beth’s Recurring Dream’ – a track exploring a sexual identity crisis which owes as much to early Los Campesinos! as it does Steve Albini.

Of ‘Your Humble Narrator’, the album’s punishing, pulsing opener and A Gut Feeling’s thematic frame, Jim explains: “I liked the idea of introducing an unreliable narrator who frames the album as an exercise in manipulation for personal gain. When a person engages with a piece of art they are invariably being manipulated by the artist to some degree – that’s part of the fun. The artist aims to elicit some sort of emotional response, the audience buys into the conceit at the promise of experiencing some form of escape.”

As listeners, we experience that manipulation first-hand on A Gut Feeling. But the fact Cassels have packaged it up as offal feels like another bleak wink. This is far from a stinking by-product, salvaged and sold to maximise profit. It’s nothing less than the most complete, relatable, and fully realised piece of art the duo has produced to date. Emotional response elicited. Conceit embraced. Escape gratefully achieved.

A Gut Feeling

First single to be taken from a new album, coming early 2022 via God Unknown Records

MR HENDERSON WAS REGARDED AS AFFABLE AND GENEROUS
BUT SINCE HIS CANCER DIAGNOSIS HE’D BECOME IRRITABLE AND CANTANKEROUS
HIS STUDENTS AT THE COMPREHENSIVE BEGAN TO TAKE NOTICE
AND NICKNAMES BEGAN TO SPREAD LIKE SPIDERWEBS OF WHISPERS
SENT AS VOICE MESSAGES ON CONTRABAND DEVICES
ALONGSIDE IMAGES OF DICTATORS WITH MR HENDERSON’S FACE PASTED CRUDELY ON TOP
THE CROWDED CORRIDORS SOFTLY SNIGGERED AND MOCKED
AS HE SPLUTTERED AND COUGHED HIS WAY THROUGH EACH LESSON
UNTIL THIS SOON TOO BECAME A TRAIT RIPE FOR PARODY AND IMPERSONATION

MR HENDERSON’S COUGHS ECHOED IN THE THROATS OF THE CALLOUS YOUNG
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BEING WHEN THEY COUGHED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS 
WEREN’T STAINED WITH BLOOD
HE’D HAD ENOUGH 
HIS FUSE SHORTENED
TETHER LESSENED
AND CONSTRICTED INTO A COILED SPRING
WHICH BEGAN TO BUBBLE AND BOIL
AND PUT THE FEAR OF GOD INTO HIM
IT WAS THE DAY BEFORE HIS CHEMOTHERAPY WAS DUE TO BEGIN
ON A RAINY TUESDAY
OPPRESSIVE AND GREY
HIS FINAL CLASS OF THE AFTERNOON HAD JUST STARTED
HE CALLED OUT THE FIRST NAME ON THE REGISTER
THE REPLY CAME
– A HACKING MOCK COUGH
 
MR HENDERSON LOST IT
MR HENDERSON SNAPPED
MR HENDERSON LEAPT FORWARD
AND INDISCRIMINATELY ATTACKED
THE STUDENTS SPRANG FROM THEIR SEATS IN A STATE OF DISBELIEF AND SCATTERED AND RAN
SOME TRIED TO FIGHT BACK
BUT IT WAS NO USE
 
NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE MISSED HIS APPOINTMENT THE NEXT DAY
AND THEN DECLINED TO REARRANGE IT TO A MORE CONVENIENT DATE
HE HOPED THIS WOULD ACT AS PENANCE FOR THE WAY THAT HE’D BEHAVED
HE HOPE THAT THIS DECISION TO SELF-FLAGELLATE
WOULD HELP HIM ON HIS WAY FROM EARLY GRAVE TO PEARLY GATES
HE HOPED THE UNIVERSE HAD SOME KIND OF DIVINE ORDER AND SHAPE
BUT WHO KNOWS?
WHO CAN SAY?

Mr Henderson Coughs

Sarah Misses Them

Beth's Recurring Dream

Dog Drops Bone

Charlie Goes Skiing

Michael's Daily Commute

Family Visits Relative

Pete's Vile Colleagues

Your Humble Narrator

LYRICS:

HATING IS EASY
An absent gaze 
Is all it takes 
To win weak hearts 

A look misconstrued 
As romantic or lewd 
Is commonplace 

And I would love you 
But loving is scary 
So I'll just hate you 
Hating is easy 

Hating is easy


Hating Is Easy

LYRICS
666 feet below our streets 
Is where we'll hide the corpses of the benefit cheats 
And turn their flesh to meat to feed this hardworking country 

The scroungers and scoundrels are just the ones with no jobs 
The collective conscience has short-term memory loss 

We're all lost

666 Feet

LYRICS

Chivalry's dead
I shot him square between the eyes
And Romance is dead
Now I want to bury her 
Deep between your thighs
And cry there
Our sexual secretions fill the wires
Download your perversions and desires

All that's left
Is our faces on a screen
And it seemed such fun
Playing like Jesus
And pointing Caesar's thumb

I could be anyone
I swipe right
I swear I only want to talk to you
I swear I am one of the golden few
The chosen few
It's true

I Swipe Right

First single to be taken from the ‘You Us and They’ EP - released by Big Scary Monsters on 12th August. Limited edition cassette: http://www.bsmrocks.com/products/574913-cassels-you-us-and-they-tape-pre-order

LYRICS
The ‘you’ in this song is a real person
Not just some abstract figment of an overactive imagination
A documentation of scars from an old home
Innumerable cuts, all too close to the bone

You exiled two sons to be lord of your manor
Rearranging home furnishings to in some way placate your anger
A nameless kind of fury at some invisible population
All of whom you hold responsible for your current shit situation
And I know that when you hear this you’ll want to retaliate and attack
Well go shout at the cats, mate
- They don’t answer back

You hit my brother
Because he saw straight through
All of your bullshit and bluster
I think it scares you that he’s not scared of you

Now your wife’s working weekends to pay for your mistakes
That and to ensure when he’s at home her second born is safe
And I can’t help but wonder why she doesn’t up and leave
I guess that must be the kind of dependency that abusive relationships breed

You hit my brother
Because he saw straight through
All of your bullshit and bluster
I think it scares you that he’s not scared

But as for our mother
Sadly I don’t think that’s true
If you really loved her
You would have never put her through the things that you’ve put her through 

Recorded and mixed by Dominic Rippel at Shelter Studio, mastered at Metropolis Studios.
casselstheband.com

Cool Box

First single to be taken from Foreword - a 'pre-album' combining our past releases along with three new tracks on 12" vinyl, coming out on 7th April via Big Scary Monsters. Pre-order here: http://www.bsmrocks.com/products/589319-cassels-foreword-preorder

LYRICS

This glib substitute for wit
Drips from smirking lips
And I hope I've applied
Just the right amount of glint to my eye
To imply
All I'm saying is a sarcastic lie

Sincerity
It buries me
Under the weight
Of having to be 
A real person
What a burden

I'm hoping cynicism
Will pass as lyricism
And I'm hoping conviction
Will mask repetition
Will mask repetition

Maybe I
Should excercise
My demons at the gym
(Happiness is for the thin)
And the sting
From injecting the steroids in
Forms my features into a sickening grin

Get set
Jet set
Budget airline to warmer climbs
I recycle so it's fine.
I set flight to the Twittersphere with alarming alacrity
To ensure all my small talk is broadcasted publicly
And I moan
And I spout negativity
But for once I'm going to try and say something honestly:

Why am I
So petrified
Of looking you in the eye?
Over time
I think I've learnt to hide
How much I struggle with the mundane
How much I struggle with the day to day
I hope this resonates with you in some way

Recorded by Dominic Rippel at Shelter Studio, mixed by Alexander Peterson, mastered by Bob Cooper.

The Weight

A two piece band comprised of two brothers. Music for misanthropes and malcontents.

NEW ALBUM 'A GUT FEELING' OUT NOW. PURCHASE VIA BANDCAMP.

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