Capdown - Surviving The Death of a Genre (Fierce Panda)
3/5
By: Charlie Potter
SKACORE! A genre that only ever managed to amass about 5 bands...
This is a band once rumoured to have played about 230 gigs in one year. Now, I saw them that year, and I can understand why there would have been that much demand. They were incredible. Regardless of what you thought of the music, the energy and musicianship was second to none. But their recorded output has always severely undermined this, even on the classic and eponymous first album there was not nearly the energy they used to muster up live. I've still never heard a good quality Capdown recording to this day.
On 'Surviving...', the band sound broken. The anger has given way to a sadness that has undoubtedly arisen from years of slogging their guts out and although everyone who has taken the time to listen to them has become a big fan, and although their new home on Fierce Panda seems an appropriate one, they're still not where they ought to be.
The song has a massive chorus that kicks in quickly and repeats again and again throughout. It's a chorus which should be angry and empowered, yet instead it just sounds apathetic to their cause, both sad and downtrodden. I would love to see this band do really well. Truly, I would, and I think that there are few bands who deserve success more than this incredibly hard working lot, but until they do a decent recording they're undoing all the hard work they put in on the live side of things and merely undermining their own potential.
As for the song, they'd do well to take notice of the fact that a band can still show all its many influences and what not, without ceasing to play fast, or losing enjoyment in it. And less of the catchy repetition please, it just doesn't suit them, whereas all the crazy sax lines and the fast jingling certainly do (or did?). There's no reason why they couldn't still do that - do it better than they ever did, in fact. But nobody wants to listen to someone simply proving a point, people want to listen to a band having fun making music they enjoy playing. Even on the b-side, a cover of 'Trick Me' by Kelis, which would be good if they attempted it in an off the cuff, funny way, they still sound like they're desperately trying to convince people of something. Lighten up, boys.
Artists in this article: Capdown
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