Cassette is a pop band with a knack for melody and drama. Boston's DIY multi-media emperor and synthesizer-player Michael Potvin and bizarro-world MOR crooner Nathanael Bluhm began writing and performing together in 2004. The duo became a full band in 2006 with the addition of Tucker Dawson on drums, Patrick Dole on bass, and Joseph Wawzryn on synthesizers. The Boston Globe called several songs from their first independent release, the 2005 ep, Broadway Showstoppers, "would-be anthems" delivered in a "dreamy, Scott Walker-croon." The Boston Phoenix called a second, unofficially-released CD-R from 2005, "sooooo good: sad-baritone emoting on some Stephen Merritt/Calvin Johnson gay-cowboy shit plus dry, ersatz-audio synthpunk accompaniment" Cassette has played their subversive pop music for audiences in 11 states plus the District of Columbia. Boston's Weekly Dig has proclaimed, "If you love electro-pop and haven't seen Cassette, well, then you don't really love electro-pop."
"Cassette is a local synth-pop band that writes songs about dresses, planets, Alexander the Great, awkward adolescent moments and whales. They also do crazy dances and use props. Like swords." "If you love electro-pop and havent seen Cassette, well, then you dont really love electro-pop"- Boston's Weekly Dig
"Cassette [are] the sad clowns of synthpop." - The Wire, NH
"Cassette's live shows have become spectacles in which Bluhm plays the stately singer (who's not afraid to bust out some moves) to Potvin's robotic sidekick, who rocks out on a keytar while donning sunglasses." - The Boston Globe
The Pittsburgh City Paper: "Red Bull," he said, and flashed me a goofy grin. "And Im ADHD." Thats how Nathanael Bluhm explains his ability to croon with total vocal control while simultaneously dancing his ass off as front man of We Are Cassette, an underground synth-pop group from Boston. But grins werent the only things flashing when the duo played Brillobox last Friday. Starting with a robotic version of The Star-Spangled Banner, We Are Cassette gradually won the crowd over with songs including Premature Baby and Blue Whale, while Bluhm stripped down to socks, a T-shirt and stars-and-stripes briefs. Sounds a little contrived, but it was more like watching a dude sing along with an awesome record in his living room. If the music sucks, I really hate this kind of gimmick, but when the musics righteous, hey, thats entertainment.
"MicL PTVN (that's his pseudonym, and he's sticking to it) strapped on a keytar, but it wasn't plugged in: he finger-synched along to pre-recorded analog synth lines pumped in via iPod like some sort of geek-pop Milli Vanilli while flamboyant singer Nate B. treated the crowd to a theatrical serenade. At one point, Nate escaped out an open window and sang to startled
passers-by." - The Boston Phoenix
