Something about Athens, Ga., seems impossibly trappable. You might never — for all the years still in existence — get to the bottom of a city that oozes with the kind of golden, granulated, pure cane sugar power-pop. As Utah spews forth salt and Maine gives us our black bears, this college town in the Great American Peach state selflessly gives of itself such delicious sauces of cookies, ghosts, elves, milky hotels, hymnals, folklore, florescence, and the flavor of libations that can get you seeing cartwheels in no swish of the eye. It’s a milieu that’s kind of old-timey (in an Athens sense) and definitely dreamy. This is a place recognized for it’s R.E.M., but known for and immortalized by the indie pop that is its own culture there. Jeff Mangum is the Bruce Springsteen of the city and Casper & the Cookies are an often criminally overlooked accomplice to the betterment of the scene’s hold on the dashing pop — top-heavy with light and fluffy hooks — that many a man and women have spent hours virtually making out with, donning headphones, closing the eyes and letting themselves tuck into the currents of sticky goo. Jason NeSmith is a former member of the white hot outfit Of Montreal — where men in clashing dresses tote samurai swords and wear Ziggy Stardust paint jobs. (A lingering question has surfaced in the course of this thought and that’s what sort of dress NeSmith would have been drawn to wearing during performances had he remained a working member of Kevin Barnes’ collective). The Cookies were not getting the sweet treatment when they were worming their way through our neck of the woods (really bars and dance clubs). They had to break up a fight between some dudes over a pair of sisters they wanted to get with or something’ (fuzzy details) in Alabama, in which NeSmith got hit by an assailant and his wife — bassist Kay Stanton — took a bruise on the rump with her as a memento of the evening’s knock-down and drag ‘em out. The worst was yet to come on this night of Sept. 9. As the night turned stormy, they loaded into the Vaudeville Mews, a club in Des Moines, Iowa, and just as they were to begin with a sound check, the presiding authority in the bar decided that she’d rather cancel the show than stick around. We’re hoping that this session of songs — apparently about ocean liners, unspeakable snarling beastly things and disco between the end of life and an eternity of fire and brimstone — were the silver lining of that day that also saw sessions happen with their touring buddy (the hug-happy Englishman Keith John Adams) and our homeboy and yours, William Elliott Whitmore, in a matter of three hours. — Sean Moeller

First and second song medley
Kiss A Friend/Barking In The Garden Of Ill Repute (Casper and the Cookies) [4.11MB] [1582 downloads]


— original versions appear on The Optimist’s Club
All journeys begin with something being smashed, typically champagne bottles or hearts. So it’s best to be on the boat, not under it.

Third song
Sid from Central Park (Casper and the Cookies) [2.70MB] [1412 downloads]


— original version appears on The Optimist’s Club
Our protagonists find themselves near a fountain surrounded by a wall of Yoshino Cherry trees. Just beyond the canopy they can hear the heavy breathing of the enormous beast. They are giddily exhausted but blissfully unaware since they are miles from rest. Soon approaches a bearded man with a shopping cart full of crumpled newspaper who offers lessons in ascension.

Fourth song
The Optimist's Club (Casper and the Cookies) [3.48MB] [1422 downloads]


— original version appears on The Optimist’s Club
This special concert arrangement installs a mirror ball in purgatory.