“Casual Technicians is a band consisting of three geographically separated songwriters (Tyler Keene, Boone Howard, and Nathan Baumgartner). All three have deep roots in the Portland, Oregon music scene. Keene and Baumgartner were founding members of And And And, sharing songwriting duties until Keene’s departure to focus on his prolific Log Across the Washer project. Howard led The We Shared Milk and the Boone Howard band. Baumgartner now lives on the Oregon coast and Keene lives in Newark, New Jersey.
The two traveled to Howard’s Chittenango, NY farm to write and record new music together as Casual Technicians while being surrounded by turkeys, sheep and beautiful upstate scenery. Having three accomplished songwriters attempting to write music together sounds like a recipe for disaster and clashing egos, but the resulting tunes were created with very little conflict and are a cohesive if idiosyncratic collection of songs. Pop earworms and lush harmonies abound. There are elements of Steely Dan, Smile-era Beach Boys, Angelo Badalamenti/David Lynch atmosphere, and splashes of unabashed emo. The mixture of oddball humor, emotional sincerity, and singalong hooks make their debut EP a fun, exciting, and strangely easy listen.”
Back in January, I came across a new song from this band that caught my attention. Recently, they released a new single which I find to be amazing. The band’s upcoming album, set to be released by Repeating Cloud, is now available for pre-order in both cassette and digital formats. The new single is a perfect blend of lo-fi rock with slowcore and folk influences. The songwriting is excellent and the melody, though simple, is incredibly catchy. I find the single reminiscent of the old country legends like Hank Williams. I am eagerly anticipating the release of their new album and cannot wait to share it with you once it is out.
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