In the world of Casi — the duo of Enumclaw bassist Eli Edwards and Xay Young — punk, hip-hop, emo, and nü metal are trusted mutuals. However, for all of their impressive genre-swerving, the band’s self-titled debut album, out last week via Carpark Records, expresses much more than wide taste. At the very core of their band is a friendship that reaches back to childhood in Spanaway, Washington, where they first met after Edwards’ mother gave him $20 and advice to “find a friend” — they bonded instantly. As they got older, they were pulled apart, with Edwards relocating to Los Angeles to put in hours with Enumclaw while Young stayed in Washington. However, even with hundreds of miles between them, they continued making songs, both through file-sharing and whenever Edwards would fly back to visit, collecting a pile of demos until they realized that what they had been making throughout the years had merit.
From the moment they dropped “JUMPER” in the spring, it was clear that this was a project with intrigue and urgency. Inspired by recent ICE raids in LA, the pair poured out their fury at the state of the world, backed by a beat that could turn any crowd into a blurry tangle of bodies. “We were supposed to play our first show down in LA at a venue close to downtown, and due to the curfew placed around the ICE protests, we weren’t able to do it,” they explain. “We ended up spending most of the day driving around the city trying to find something to do, seeing some really upsetting stuff. You’re on the freeway, and a squad of 10 cop cars will fly by filled with four guys with ARs, and we’re all thinking, ‘For what?’ They were putting people’s grandparents in cuffs and kids getting teargassed — it was all so dehumanizing. We were charged up, and it really comes through on this track.”
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As with its black-and-white video, boxing is a prevalent theme across the rollout, from the album artwork to their press photos. “Everyone thinks they know what they’re doing until they get punched in the face, and like a punch, Casi is coming full force,” the band say. Below, they take us through their explosive debut, song by song.
“TRIGGER”
This is one of the first ones we worked on while I was still living in LA. I went over to Xay’s house in Spanaway, and we knocked out the core bones in one night, along with “SUBSTANCE” and “HUMAN STEREOTYPE.” Narratively, this one really set the tone for what this album means to us, a snapshot of our lives right now. I’m in LA, broke, with a long-distance girlfriend, waking up at 2 p.m. to go look for a job, while Xay is bussing tables back in Tacoma, trying to figure out financial aid and shit. “How many hits does it have to take”? How many times do we have to do the same thing every day? How long do we have to wait until we can eat? How long do we have to wait until we are happy? This is what hunger sounds like. —Eli Edwards
“I’M HUNGOVER AND I WENT TO CHURCH”
“HUNGOVER” is a response to “TRIGGER.” We can be mad about our situation. We can be upset. But everyone deals with it. “You don’t gotta like it, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” It’s like calling ourselves out — if you can complain, you can do something about it. —Eli Edwards
“HOCKEY”
“HOCKEY” is painting the picture of what it means to be from Spanaway. You got people who are playing Yu-Gi-Oh, and you got people who are in the field. You got suburbs next to trap houses. You got long bus rides to get to the city. Sometimes it feels suffocating, but you learn to embrace it. —Xay Young
“D.O.A.”
Spanaway taught me the fear of wasted potential. “I got some homies who ain’t make it out.” I know people who were supposed to go to the league. I know people who should have gone to the NFL or the NBA, and now they’re facing 20 years. That shit is real. —Xay Young
“INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS”
This is the first time we had made a song based off someone else’s demo. Our friend Hunnidkbaby gave us this track that was just his vocals, the bassline, and a kick drum. Something about that bassline and the tempo really brought out this grimy feeling, and we rode that feeling when writing. This is the monster, that nasty side you don’t talk about. —Eli Edwards
“JUMPER”
“JUMPER” was one of the last ones written while we were finishing up the album in LA. We were supposed to play our first show down there at a venue close to downtown, and due to the curfew placed around the ICE protests, we weren’t able to do it. We ended up spending most of the day driving around the city trying to find something to do, seeing some really upsetting stuff. You’re on the freeway, and a squad of 10 cop cars will fly by filled with four guys with ARs, and we’re all thinking, “For what?” They were putting people’s grandparents in cuffs and kids getting tear gassed. It was all so dehumanizing. We were charged up, and it really comes through on this track. —Eli Edwards and Xay Young
“ELEVEN87”
I was 20 and had just experienced my first heartbreak. Eli was in LA, and I felt alone. I remember being so depressed, I would wake up at 3 p.m., go to work at 4, and smoke all day. One night, I just couldn’t sleep, and I was out of weed and needed some sort of therapy. I loaded up Logic and just played silently in my little room. “Is my heart in danger, funny how we all got painful strangers.” I think one of the worst pains we experience as humans is seeing ghosts that are still alive and feeling grief for someone who still breathes. In many ways, that’s worse than death. I remember after I finished this beat, I wrote my ex this long message and sent this beat, and I also sent it to Eli. His response was, “You’re really getting good at this rock shit,” and hers was a simple heart. Both of those responses changed how I viewed music, how I viewed myself, and the power of the human heart. —Xay Young
“SUBSTANCE”
This song was made the same night Eli and I made “TRIGGER” and “HUMAN STEREOTYPE.” What I thought was really interesting about this song was Eli had written his verse first, and I thought it was the best thing he had ever written at the time. It was so raw, and being his friend for so long, I felt all of the lyrics as if I was there (which, for the most part, I was). “They say I’m just like my father. I take what’s good and dissolve it.” I’ve always felt like I’ve been cursed with never being satisfied and destroying good things. Turning people into ghosts, whether by choice or negligence, was the only trait I felt I gained from my father. —Xay Young
“HUMAN STEREOTYPE”
A common theme I’ve noticed about this album is the idea of ghosts, whether dead or alive, they function as one and the same. To this day, this song is so painful to perform because I spoke about someone very dear to me on this album, and they died shortly after the making of this song. In some ways, it felt divine/esoteric in some strange omnipotent way. “It’s way too cliche to die, the human stereotype.” I didn’t get what that meant until now, and in some ways, I wish I still didn’t. —Xay Young
“BRIDGES”
On its own, “BRIDGES” tonally touches on a lot of the same themes as earlier tracks in the record, but the placement of the track is what brings out the meaning to me. We’ve lived the life of this album, all the ups and down, and this is the part where you’re supposed to have some answers, but you don’t. “Maybe next time.” —Eli Edwards
