It's difficult NOT to warm to a band who can be bothered to write up a manifesto in these couldn't-be-arsed times, but this writer couldn't fail to be intrigued by especially two of CAYTO'S self-imposed rules: namely "call no idea too extreme, stupid or complicated" and (great!) "hate your instrument."
So, just who are CAYTO then? Well, they're only one of the brightest hopes to come from north of the border that your battle-scarred hack has clapped ears on in recent times. And this - their debut mini-album - features seven reasons to be cheerful/ scared shitless (delete as applicable).
Make no mistake: CAYTO are different. Indeed, "Your Atoms Are Laughing" is one multi-headed hydra of a sonic beast, and its' sheer diversity may be too overwhelming a prospect for the faint-hearted. Dig in, though, and this impressive quartet's penchant for diamond-hard musicianship soon shines through.
Touchstones are many and varied. The powerful, circular piano'n'guitar motifs of the opening "C'mere" bring to mind Radiohead (in less abstract times) fronted by a gravel-gobbling Ewan MacGregor; the gentle, melodic meandering of "Dirge 2" recalls Talk Talk or last year's unsung heroes Lorien and the mesmeric, trip hop-py intro to "The Head Of A Pin" initially reminds of the second Portishead album.
CAYTO are the masters of throwing a curve, though. In fact, "The Head Of A Pin" soon develops into a jauntily scary post-apocalyptic storyboard (with added clarinet) as Paul Henry's frighteningly cool narrative (like a less pished Aidan Moffatt) turns GDP numbers into stark reality. The ensuing "Archimedes" is the one that truly raises eyebrows, however. Kicking in via some suitably deranged George Dubya samples, CAYTO shine up their thrash credentials and ride off into the holocaust sounding more like Suicidal Tendencies than The Smiths.
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But that's the kind of record "Your Atoms Are Laughing" is. Although it employs laid-back pastoral post-rock passages en route, it's liable to give you a jolt if you threaten to get TOO comfortable. Besides, it also has the genius to sign off with "God Is Love", where CAYTO employ both moody atmosphere and the sort of full-blown grandiosity that would make Muse wet themselves.
By turns restrained, theatrical and utterly mental, this is a fine and often startling debut salvo from this promising Scottish quartet. "Your Atoms Are Laughing" huh? Maybe. But CAYTO are pulling the fins from the bomb.
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