Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment,
Bad Astronaut
Sucks to be Joey Cape. You're in a seminal punk band that's loved by anyone into punk over the age of 21, seemingly shit songs out of any side project you can handle and are also a main player in the best super group of all time ever. Yeah, sucks to be Joey. But then your best friend kills himself, leaving you to write a reactionary, upset record (Lagwagon's 'Resolve') and then to finish the side-project you;ve started with the bandmate who has taken his own life. Suddenly things aren't quite so rosy.
And thus Bad Astronaut's third - and likely final - record was always going to be difficult. Depressing and dark, it's quite brilliant in that it captures the mood of the band, and their mood as they come to terms with the loss of a friend, while still offering hope for the future ahead of them. And if you were in any doubt that Senor Cape wasn't one of the generation's best songwriters, this record will certainly re-affirm that faith. It's a sweeping indie-rock record, bordering on dark pop-punk, flashing between the melodic numbers the band have trademarked and the darker, twisted side that I guess was expected following Derrick Plourde's untimely death. And it's the struggle to finish this album following his suicide - the album took three years to complete - that is a major focus for this album.
Sadly for Joey, you can read into the stress and strain this record must have had and the toll it must have taken. While I cannot imagine what it feels like to lose a friend in such a way, it becomes very easy to sympathise as the album progresses - simply because there's always a feeling of hope not too far around the corner. On 'Beat' he sings "Today, I finished what we started, Today, I thought you might be proud, We have recorded your defeat, An album always incomplete." And while it's no 'Candle in the Wind', it's more moving than you'd probably expect it to be. It's a shame this record is so good for the wrong reasons. It's intelligence, catchy and clever - like it should be - yet only because of the pain and agony it must have been to write and record. It's a fitting tribute to an excellent drummer, and if it turns out to be a closing chapter in Bad Astronaut's history, it will be a fine way to go.
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