Band bios are boring. They are useless pieces of clap–trap used by record companies to squeeze that last few dollars from the overtaxed wallets of ignorant pre–teens who haven’t figured out how to use limewire. They have a basic format that everyone follows and use big college words like emotive or contextual. They discuss how a band starts (duh! How does every band start– A couple people get together, play some music, if it is ok then they play a show. Sometimes they play a couple more.)

I could see putting in the origins of the band if it was something like this: They met in rehab. Fuck yes! Remember that nu–metal band from Minneapolis whose big claim to fame was that they met in rehab– Best thing about them by a long shot, homey. Nathan the singer, rescued the band from prostitution and needed a positive direction for them so that they wouldn’t fall into old patterns. Nathan inherited them from a crazy uncle who first made him figure out some ancient riddle and fight ninjas to achieve his rightful destiny as Nathan, Leader of the Casting Out. Nathan is actually the Holy Grail descended from Jesus…uh, ok that is weird.

So if a bands origins aren’t like that, I don’t give a fuck. Got it– So Nathan was in a band called BoySetsFire. They did ok, then they broke up. So the Casting Out started, first with some terrible name that (THANK GOD!) was already taken, played some shows, lost some members, got some members, changed their sound, (yeah I know…it “evolved”) It got louder. More raucous. More fun. More of that good stuff that keeps you coming back. Catchier than a plateful of syphalitic lepers. EW. They started touring in a crappy van that broke down.

Of course they did. Who didn’t– Played to smatterings of people who began disinterested, but were slowly (so slowly!) run over by their dynamic stage show. But they are doing it the way you are supposed to. They are sleeping on floors. They are eating pasta. Playing freaking VFWs, Which is fine for all the retards out there with their first band who are just excited to get out of Arkansas, But Nathan is no spring chicken. He ain’t even a Winter Goose. He has been touring since he was 20 which was nearly two decades ago. When he started touring, gas was ninety cents a gallon. When he started touring, no–one had cell phones.

We used this cracked out gadget called the “Straight Edge Dialer” which somehow imitated the sonic patterns of quarters dropping into the slot. We would gather around a pay–phone and use it to call home and try to get shows. When he started touring, there was no major–label debate because major–labels simply did not sign punk or hardcore bands. When he started touring the internet was a mere gleam in Al Gore’s nutsack. When he started touring, people bought cds. Yeah, I know... That long ago. So the question was posed as it has been before and will certainly be again. Why– Why start over– Why not look back at the admittedly somewhat impressive body of work. (4 full lengths, countless tours, blah blah…) and just say fuck it and get a jobby job– "Because it is the only thing I am good at”. To be honest, that isn’t quite true.

Nathan can also paint like a mother fucker. He is wonderful at touch up, and even with ideas about certain color schemes, But who the hell wants to paint for the rest of his life– Not me, And I guess not him. I have another idea about why Nathan is still doing it. Because it is fun. Because the Casting Out is fun. Lots of fun. Nathan, the grizzled lead singer, seems to have discovered a new tool in his writing tool–bag (–) —a sense of humor. The songs are performed with a knowing wink and jaunty tip of the hat. No cute (is what we aim for) word play. No long ass song titles. Just lyrics written from a good perspective and good punk–influenced pop music. Melodies that will make your heart sing.