Casual Male’s Tim Lappin takes us track-by-track through his self-titled debut album – a spirited, smile-inducing fever dream that finds him baring his heart and soul through a dazzling array of catchy, colorful, and captivating indie rock songs.
Stream: “Half Cut” – Casual Male
This is where I am: Today that is here, on color plastic vinyl, counting back the years…
– “Half Cut,” Casual Male
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Casual Male’s debut album opens with a spectacular rush of radiant energy and raw emotion.
Electric guitars roar alongside pounding drums as passion transforms into a stunning, infectious sonic frenzy. “I was half cut and backed against a wall,” the artist sings in the chorus, steadily working his way through a major loss. “Feeling washed up, I’ll run before I crawl… I’ll never crawl.” It’s an undeniably dramatic entrance, and the perfect introduction to Tim Lappin’s solo project – one that is, at its heart, anything but casual.
Well… sort of. He did name is debut EP ‘EP,’ after all.
Having spent years playing for and with the likes of Chet Faker, Vlad Holiday, Des Rocs, John Splithoff, and many more, Brooklyn’s Tim Lappin is no stranger to the alternative music world, and he understands those little things that turn a good song into a great one. His “Casual Male” moniker may only be seven years old, but he’s used that time to finesse a skill he’d been chipping away at for far longer – and his self-titled debut album is as much a greatest (albeit unreleased) hits record as it is truly his best foot forward as an artist.
Catchy, colorful, and captivating through and through, Casual Male is a spirited, smile-inducing indie rock fever dream: A sonically and emotionally charged collection of songs meant to soothe and stir, uplift and inspire all who listen.
I don’t have a vision
I will not transcend
If I predict the future
It’d ruin the end
I was half cut
And backed against a wall
Feeling washed up
I’ll run before I crawl
I’ll never crawl
Independently released October 4th, 2024, Casual Male hits hard and leaves a lasting mark as Tim Lappin channels inner churn into charming, driving, and at times left-of-center rock songs that call to mind everyone from The Killers and Medium Build to Father John Misty and even Bruce Springsteen. Lappin made the album with producer Abe Seiferth (Nation of Language, Guerilla Toss), and likes to say it’s “for people who dig Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne with modern indie production.”
The name ‘Casual Male’ is a cheeky nod to what Lappin describes as his own laid-back approach to the world. “I used to have these business cards that said ‘Tim Lappin: Just Some Guy.’ They didn’t have any phone number or email on them, and I really thought that was funny,” he explains. “So I was thinking of something like that, and my ex suggested ‘Casual Male,’ which used to be a clothing store. It seemed like a very inoffensive name, and it aligned with my ethos that I’m not really trying to bother anyone.”
While he was happy, for a long time, to play a behind-the-scenes supporting role for others, Lappin knew deep down that he wanted to do more.
“I’ve always considered myself to be someone who goes with the flow,” he admits, “but the last few years have been a reckoning with what I want, and how to achieve it.”
Following two EPs (2018’s EP and 2020’s Raise the Dead) and a smattering of standalone singles, his first full-length LP is both a personal achievement and professional milestone as Lappin steps up to the mic and fully embraces the “frontman” role with impressive ease, grace, and poise.
Casual Male’s songs themselves find Lappin emphatically spilling his heart and soul, confronting hard truths and facing painful, often difficult emotions head-on.
I’ve been feeling low these days
Got this tension in my face
From begging
Begging to you
I’ve been stabbed in the gut
But my hands can’t hold the blood
I’m missing you these days
I’m missing you these days
Blindly walking down the street
Mouth is open while I eat
Spending every calorie
I’m giving up these days
I’m giving up these days
– “These Days,” Casual Male
“This record is all about a crossroads in my life, and trying to figure out what comes next,” he tells Atwood Magazine. “A long relationship, and gig, both ended, and then the pandemic happened. All of that was coupled with getting older, and just not knowing where to turn. It’s also the culmination of writing for many years, to the point that I wanted to call it ‘Greatest Hits: Volume One,’ and is a representation of the best that I have to offer.”
He continues, “The goal was to make something really succinct, and have every song be as strong as possible. I wanted to make something like an early Tom Petty record, where every song stands alone on its own, but as a collection it’s even better. I always kind of imagined someone finding this record 20 years from now in a bargain bin and loving it. Saying to themselves, ‘Why wasn’t this band more successful?’”
Lappin candidly describes Casual Male as “East Coast Alternative.”
“It’s probably to my detriment, but I just always had the vibe of, ‘Hey check this out if you want but don’t feel obliged to. Come to this gig if you want but ehhh, I totally understand if you can’t make it.’ So presenting as someone who isn’t really trying to sell you something, but once you do listen, you are really hooked to the songs themselves.”
To Lappin’s credit, his debut album really is well worth the listen. From the aforementioned hard-hitting opener “Half Cut” to the more tender and cathartic closer “Everybody Knows,” Casual Male proves a dizzying, dazzling musical rollercoaster. Big hooks and bold melodies await on every track, with highlights including the rich harmonies of “These Days,” the sheer firepower of “Help Me” and “I’m Right Here,” and the irresistible warmth of “Dotted Lines” and “Hondo Civic.”
How could I know that
My soul needs saving
Is being a good man
Still enough for my family?
Million cuts no end in sight
Blood’s in the water
And the sharks are coming out
To witness the slaughter
Help me please
I’m losing my grip
Help me please, I’m struggling
Help me please
I’m right on the edge
Of something bigger
– “Help Me,” Casual Male
“My favorite song off the record is probably ‘Everybody Knows,’ which maybe is influenced by recency bias as it was the last song I wrote for it,” Lappin says. “I went through a breakup after eight years, and I went through so many emotions and wrote so many bad, bad songs, and I could never quite put it into words. One moment that really stuck with me was the mundane tasks of putting your life back together, like buying new furniture, and painting. So I tried to capture that with the line, ‘throw a coat of paint on the primer, and carry on.’ It’s a bit of a silly line on its own, but it’s sung in a very serious and emotional way.”
Meanwhile, he cites “Hondo Civic” as home to his favorite lyrics. “Even though it’s quite literal, I really do love ‘Hondo Civic.’ It’s 100 percent real and about my experience driving my old ‘80s Civic that got passed through my entire family,” he smiles. “I feel like I was able to capture my love for it and transport the listener to a time when they were young and had something in their lives – whether it was a car, bike, guitar, etc. – that just brought them absolute joy.”
I was young, seventeen
Got the tape deck on
We’re listening to Queen
Roll the window down
Push up the seat
I’m with my first true love
My 1986 station wagon
In brown
A Honda Civic station wagon
In brown
Ultimately, Casual Male marks both the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next for Lappin, who says he’s only just getting started.
“My hope is that listeners fall in love with the songs themselves and play them over and over,” Lappin shares. “That they can become these special little safe spaces, that they can lose themselves in for three minutes at a time.”
“My takeaway is that nothing in my life feels better than when I finish a song that I’m happy with. It still brings me absolute joy, and I hope people feel that a bit.”
We can’t wait to see (and hear) where this artist takes us next, but one thing’s for sure: We’ll be listening to Casual Male with a not-so-casual frequency over the months ahead.
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Casual Male’s Casual Male with Atwood Magazine as Tim Lappin goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of his self-titled debut album!
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:: stream/purchase Casual Male here ::
:: connect with Casual Male here ::
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Stream: ‘Casual Male’ – Casual Male
:: Inside Casual Male ::
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Half Cut
This was written after a longtime gig came to an end, and I was dealing with the disappointment of what felt like lost opportunity. In the days after, where I was trying to process such a big loss, I realized sometimes the best thing to do is drink a few beers with friends. After that, you write a song about sitting around and drinking a few beers.
These Days
This was an experiment with looping parts and instruments together, then having them enter and exit until they all finally come together to meet at the end. This song is also about highlighting the guitar playing of Kirk Schoenherr(Chet Faker, Tegan & Sara, Elle King), a longtime friend and collaborator, who plays one of the most ripping slide solos I’ve ever heard.
Help Me
I get a lot of ideas for songs while I am out surfing, which is a great place to workshop lyrics, and ideas in my head. This one came to me after having a conversation with my brother who has been my surf buddy since day one. We were down in Ocean City, New Jersey and he was just talking about life, and the challenges of working, raising a family, and trying to do what’s right. It just struck me how hard it is to exist, let alone be virtuous, and all the internal stress we are all facing. The first line “It’s always the red wine, that seems to break me” was written about myself, as I always take a break from drinking every year, and it also seems to be wine that lures me back in. I think a lot about my relationship with alcohol in general, and there are moments throughout the record that it shows up.
Dotted Lines
This song is a reflection on a career and a life playing music. The question of do you give up or do you keep going? Does success look the way you think it does? Does sacrifice mean a life well lived? At the end of the day it’s something only you can decide. I was channeling Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, for sure, and really wanted to write a song in the genre I like to call “Cruiser.”
Is This It
This was an attempt to write a very short, very serious sounding song, that ended up being a meditation on the existential question we sometimes ask ourselves when performing mundane daily tasks. Is this it?
Hondo Civic
The bass line of this song I wrote 10 years ago when I was in the band Companion fronted by Pepi Ginsberg. I brought it in, and while everyone liked it, it didn’t fit. I found an old recording of it, and wrote the lyrics over the groove in 30 minutes. It all just came out. It’s all about being young, and the world being ahead of you. You have this car that by all standards is a junker but you worship it. It represents freedom, and that no one but you can really tell you what something is worth.
Pipe Dream
Another song that I wrote while surfing. I was listening to a lot of Thin Lizzy, and was just thinking how cool they were, and how I wish I had written “The Boys Are Back In Town.” A tune that’s about celebrating reckless abandon, while still recognizing that you are getting older, and you can’t continue like this forever.
My Mind Is Open
This is about falling in love, and how reality and expectations don’t always align. We have an idea of what something should be, or someone should be, and as we learn more we realize we have to open our perception to who they really are.
I’m Right Here
This is about the anger and frustration that can come as a result of a breakup. How we may not be ready to move on even though things are definitely over. The fear that we may never get back to the person we used to be, or that this loss may break us.
Everybody Knows
This is about going through a difficult breakup, and all the feelings that come up while having to put IKEA furniture together by yourself. There’s nothing quite like crying while reading the instructions for a Songesand 6 drawer dresser. I wrote many, many songs after the breakup but they were too personal, and raw, and maybe even mean. I had to work through all that to get to this song which wrapped my feelings up in a more mature way. Ultimately you gotta set the intention and move forward with your life.
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:: connect with Casual Male here ::
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