Voices Out There

The Caseworker is a SF project led by Conor and Eímer Devlin, former members of the slowcore band Half Film. Shaped partially by Conor’s time in a hospital post-car-crash, this fourth album is immaculately crafted to create an overarching feeling of tranquil melancholy at the axis of guitar pop, slowcore, and shoegaze. Catchy and magnificent (and released by Hidden Shoal!). All songs are good, but my favorites are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. No FCCs detected.

1. *(2:48)—Slow, dramatic, sad, psychedelic, absolutely gorgeous.
2. *(3:41)—Medium-slow, lazy, minimal. Nice woozy slide guitar.
3. *(3:21)—Mid-tempo, dark slow burn. Especially catchy.
4. *(2:53)—Slow, soft, expansive. Percussion is heavy on the tom-toms.
5. (3:02)—Mid-tempo. Bouncy but moody, intense. Washes of distortion.
6. *(3:06)—Slow, funky. Restrained in the verses, heavy in the choruses.
7. (3:13)—Medium-slow, slightly bluesy. Waves of guitars bury the vocals.
8. (4:10)—Slow. Hits a nice groove, wafts along. The jammiest song here.
9. (3:41)—Slow, calm, accentuates the band’s slowcore roots.
10. (1:22)—Mid-tempo. Instrumental. Reprise of track six.
11. (2:43)—Slow, almost a dirge. Shuffling percussion, then drums. Fades into track 12.
12. (3:16)—Slow, grand. Droning distortion. Builds and then fades.