Pas/Cal

Despite the copious number of acts liberally being compared to Belle & Sebastian, there remain a few that follow Murdoch’s footsteps with such fine attention to detail that you’d have to lie about the music in order to deny the similarities. Take the Detroit sextet Pas/Cal, for instance. With Oh Honey, their second EP in as many years, the group’s primary songwriter, singer, producer and namesake Casimer Pascal continues to combine all of the trademarks; slightly clever lyrics and light acoustic strumming with coy, hushed vocals and song titles like "What Do the American Girls Have on Jennifer JoJo.” But what really separates Pas/Cal from the horde of other sound-alikes is Casimer’s penchant for clever song structures and the wonderfully germane production that makes full use of all six members without ever sounding crowded. It’s a big promise of things to come, especially the aforementioned "JoJo,” a six-minute pop epic that makes up for the superfluous "Bem, Please Come Home” and, the only song that comes a little too close to recent B&S territory, "The Handbag Memoirs.” Their roots may be familiar, but Pas/Cal clearly have the talent to eventually supersede these superficialities.