Leave the Capital - Matchsticks (Org)
2/5
By: Chris O'Toole
Earnest new boys from Cardiff Leave the Capital appear to take their imminent conquest of the popular music summit for granted. The bands biographies and press releases are bursting with talk of salivating record companies, management executives slitting the throats of their own children from the promise of their signature and Radio 1 DJs crawling across hot coals begging for them to play a single note on their evening session shows. Some would call this optimistic. Some would call this short sighted. Some would call this naive.
I think the majority will fall into the final category, and the bands optimism seems misplaced. The ship has sailed on this sound, finding Leave the Capital floundering in the wake of a high and glorious wave. In the current climate their aesthetic sounds dated, even though it was valuable currency only three or four years ago. Back in halcyon days when Elbow, Starsailor and South ruled the lower frequency airwaves, Leave the Capital would have been able to tout their heart on sleeve trad rock with gusto, occupying the enviable position of also ran in a small scale alternative scene. Now though palpable influence their forbearers is a burden, shining through as the band aim to capture a glorious spectacle in a few bars. The result, however, is paper thin emotion, thinner lyrics and a trite and overplayed morality.
Whilst Leave the Capital claim to have "Built their own ship from matchsticks" in which they plan to sail away, it is obvious that a fair percentage of those matchsticks were borrowed from other musicians, and a fairly large debt is owed. Nothing dazzles, nothing shines and most worryingly, nothing sticks. They sit on the second tier of a fallen empire.
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