Astrophagus

Astrophagus regularly employs two distinct styles. On some songs, the performers come across as rockers with a pronounced gloomy streak; on others, they seem like electro-adventurers. Yet Casualite never feels schizophrenic. The disc remains cohesive thanks to a singular vision that expresses itself in divergent fashion.

Vocalist Jason Cain, who plays standard instruments (guitar, piano) and non-traditional ones (tape player, computer), embodies the act’s dual tack. With the help of keyboardist/fellow computer user Joshua Cain, percussionist David Kurtz and bassist Austin Hein, he turns out numbers ranging from “The Risk of Birth Defects,” a wordless effort of sublime moodiness, to “Consult the List,” which pivots on string-bending solos and couplets such as “Scumbags of the world, unite.” Equally effective are “ATM” and “Pigeondust,” a pair of hybrids that freshen the sort of structural elements customarily utilized by pop tunesmiths with sonic accoutrements dispensed one byte at a time.

That’s how a split personality comes together.