German indie rockers
Cosmic Casino belong to no easily identifiable scene. Their debut album,
Be Kind and Be Cause, consists of 13 manic guitar pop tunes with quirky lyrics ("A cornflake is not an elephant"?) and pogo-riffic pop-punk melodies. Early
Supergrass is an easy touchstone, but songs like the sparse, tense "Postcard from the Moon" and the churning closer "Go On to Greater Things" also suggest a vaguely psychedelic bent akin to their Norwegian labelmates
Motorpsycho or the Swedish pomp-rockers
the Soundtrack of Our Lives.
Be Kind and Be Cause is refreshingly idiosyncratic, but the band's two most appealing elements, Thomas Hoenig's hyperactive, choppy guitar style and Richard Goerlich's lightly accented, tightly wound vocals, make
Cosmic Casino easily accessible regardless. ~ Stewart Mason