The Casual Dots

 Le groupe - The band :

Christina Billott
Chant, guitare - vocal, guitar 

Apparition dans -Appear in 
Hazmat 
Slant 6 
Quix-o-tic 
Autoclave 

Kathi Wilcox
Guitare - Guitar 

Apparition dans - Appear in 
Briget Cross 
Kathi Wilcox Doug Bailey 
Bikini kill 
The Feebles 
Frumpies 
Mary Lou Lord [invitée] 
Star Sign Scorpio

Steve Dore
Batterie - Drums

Apparition dans - Appear in
Corrections
Deep Lust
the Finger
the Rebos

 Bla Bla :

Formé durant l'année 2002, The Casual Dots regroupe Christina Billotte, Kathy Wilkox et Steve Dore. Le son minimaliste ( 2 guitare et une batterie) fournit une plate-forme sonore idéale pour le style vocal distinctif de Christina.

Formed in the summer of 2002, The Casual Dots are Christina Billotte (Slant 6, Quix*o*tic) on guitar and vocals, Kathi Wilcox (Bikini Kill, Frumpies) on guitar, and Steve Dore (Deep Lust) on drums. The Casual Dots minimalist sound, anchored by a propulsive back beat and weaving melodic interplay between the guitars, provides a sonic platform for Christina’s cool and distinctive vocal style. The result is a raw pop sound that reflects a uniquely angular and lean sensibility.

 Discographie :

2004 : The Casual Dots
The Casual Dots' self-titled effort is easy to overlook. With two guitars, drums, and no bass, it fits the mold of every other garage record.

Articles : 

Article visible sur : http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/1460
Par : Ben Donnelly
Le 04 Juin 2004

The Casual Dots' self-titled effort is easy to overlook. With two guitars, drums, and no bass, it fits the mold of every other garage record. The musicians have been recording for 10 years now, starting in Bikini Kill and Slant 6, which actually makes this debut a late-career punk record. Hardly a selling point. And a casual comparison suggests that the Casual Dots aren't much different than Christine Billotte's previous band Quix*O*Tic.

 They are. This is a fully realized set that stakes out a personal sound, and it might be the best thing these artists have ever produced. After a heavy start, off-kilter guitar lines creep in, and the rest of the record balances blunt riffing with subtler textures. Billotte and Kathi Wilcox's dual leads tangle, syncopate, synch briefly in arpeggios, then spiral apart. Like everything about this record, the guitar work is deceptively simple, instantly catchy, but never obvious.

 Billotte's vocals range from declarative punk to stately soaring. "Mama's Gonna Bake Us a Cake" barks out a leftist allegory, and one song later, she has a folky clarity that recalls early Jefferson Airplane. A straight take on the early-'60s Etta James ballad "I'll Dry My Tears" has Billotte dropping classic pop inflections in all the right places, edging towards sobs, but never really emoting. She isn't cold, but the remoteness in her vocals casts an introverted feel over the whole record. When they hop through another blues nugget, they pull off the line "Your love is like a bee...an EVIL bumble bee," without lapsing into corniness.

 Leftist punk, '60s folk rock, sweet Rhythm and Blues, garage rock - that's a lot of reference points for a 10-song debut. The Casual Dots' restraint allows them to sample a range genres without being bombastic or willfully ecletic. The band has an uncanny ability to stiffen up the swing of a beat just enough to make it tense, without turning it inert. Guy Picciotto's spare production shifts the room sound and reverb just enough to showcase each song, never explicitly evoking the quoted styles. The influences fade back into the Casual Dots minimalism.

 The results manage to be both laid back and abrasive, and with their expertise at patently unhip cover versions, the Minutemen aren't an undeserved comparison. It's too bad the similarities end there, because a 20-track album from the Dots would have been anything but excessive.

Un autre est visible sur http://www.neumu.net/datastream/2004/2004-00040/2004-00040_datastream.shtml

 

Paroles - Lyrics :

Bumblebee
-I'm gonna have to put you down
You've been treating me like a clown
You know you hurt my heart again
I'm sorry but baby it's the end
-Shoo-ee You hurt me like a bee Bumblebee, an evil bumblebee
-I gave you love as sweet as honey
My heart my soul and all my money
You didn't seem to realize
You had a home in paradise
-Shoo-ee You hurt me like a bee Bumblebee, an evil bumblebee
-Don't you know I cried Night after night
Just one kiss before you go
Don't ever come back for more
-Now baby there's no use in crying
I'm sick and tired of all your lying
You know you hurt my heart before
You'll never hurt me anymore
-Shoo-ee You hurt me like a bee Bumblebee, an evil bumblebee
-Now baby there's no use in crying
I'm sick and tired of all your lying
You know you hurt my heart again
I'm sorry but baby it's the end
-Shoo-ee You hurt me like a bee Bumblebee, an evil bumblebee

Clocks
-What is love
What is the definition
Is it real or just an illusion
-But does the answer really matter to this question
'Cause I guess it's just a matter of perception
-I used to think that love was just infatuation
For my attachment to the situation
Just an antidote for feeling lonely
Those hearts in books and living solely
-But that does not describe this feeling
'Cause it's been a long time
And I'm still reeling
-What is love
What's the definition
Is there any other word that's not a translation
-Is it real or just a chemical reaction?
Does this question really matter?
'Cause I guess it's relevant to my perception
And it is my perception

E.S.P.
E.
S.
P.
-Extra-sensory perception
We can see see through your mind's conception
We can tell you when or whether
E.S.P. for now if not forever

Evil Operations Classified
-There's something wrong that's going on now
We need to change it but I just don't know how
To just ignore it is oh so easy
But it makes me kinda queasy
-They had too much control
Even what you listen to on the radio
Screen programmed to hide
Evil operations classified
-They play a dangerous chess game
With human lives they made for their game
And we're forced to watch it
Like it's just some kind of entertainment
-They practice thought replacement
To keep everyone complacent
They decided what we shouldn't be thinking
Try and let the mind control sink in
-They had too much control
Even what you listen to on the radio
Screen programmed to hide
Evil operations classified

Flowers
-It is three hours before day
-It is an hour before day
I laid in bed all night awake
-You are the only one I can't see
I can't do everything you know
He picks her up and they go dancing
I dial numbers in the phone

Hooded
-he doesn't know how to love
he doesn't know what it's all about
he waits for someone to show him
too scared to try to come on out
-I live inside his head
make sure his fears cannot be heard
cause if someone knows his secrets
he's afraid that they might regret
-don't walk around like a wounded cat
don't turn your fears to facts
you only get what you expect
you determine what comes to you next

I'll Dry My Tears
-I'll dry my eyes for tonight
No more tears, no more sorrow
But I'll cry again tomorrow night
Because I need you so
-These tears I cried for you
Are tears of loneliness
On bended knees I come to you
Because I need you so
-Why must we break up?
Why can't we make up?
My heart My heart is still on fire
-Just lately it seems
You don't want me 'round
And I still need your love
-And I'll dry my eyes for tonight
No more tears, no more sorrow
But I'll cry again tomorrow night
Because I need you so

Momma's Gonna Make Us A Cake
-Momma's gonna bake us a cake
From a recipe for life
To make sure that we do not have enough just do what's right
-This cake really has taste
'Cause life you must not waste
On food that doesn't taste good
Or not to do what you could
-There are many ways to live
You must appreciate
So pick a different flavor
Don't listen to the neighbors
-Divided up into twelve pieces
Everybody gets a slice
If you're the one to get the prize
You know it really will be so nice
-Momma's gonna bake us a cake
From a recipe for life
To make sure that we do not have enough just do what's right
-This cake really has taste
'Cause life you must not waste
On food that doesn't taste good
Or not to do what you could
-Divided up into twelve pieces
Everybody gets a slice
If you're the one to get the prize
You know it really will be alright

She's the Real Thing
-She's the real thing and you knew it all along
Her eyes are made of crystalline
Her hair she wears a song
She's never wrong
-Seems to me you made your mind up anyway
She's only here for a day
Don't get carried away
-Dissolving into mere conjecture
All that is left are these reflections
Pick yourself up off the floor
This illusion you'll be sighing more
-He's the real thing and you knew it all along
His mind is quick and agile
And his heart is very strong
He's never wrong
-Seems to me you made your mind up anyway
You're tired of being the one who never stays
For more than a day
-Dissolving into mere conjecture
All that is left are these reflections
Some day the story will unfold
Just the way you want it to be told