Learning To Play With,
Captain EverythingWondering what the stupendous Captain Everything are about? Let me help you. Switch around the album title and read it again. Do you see? In a small way that sums up the band, witty and sharp. 'Learning to play with...' is a
superb effort by the London trio, having re-worked it for there debut
Household Names Record release they have worked a treat. There style is simple. Fast drumming + humour + variation = Captain Everything.
The opening two tracks 'Unlicky Strike' and 'My Girlfriends Dads runs a sweatshop' set the tone for the album, showing the band are not afraid to venture into some ska riffs before linking into a lightning fast pace. 'What do you know' is another step into the right direction with pace not showing
any signs of letting up. 'Picture of you' slows the album down a little and is a highlight, which I wasn't expecting myself to say as I love speed punk. It is a solid effort and if C*E were to ever release a single from the album this would be at the forefront of the choices.
'The One minute love song' follows and it is business as usual with the pace as frantic as before. 'Here with Me' doesn't quite work as a song. It struggles to capture the imagination in any great way, but the superbly named 'Diary of a Spengler' and 'The Cheesiest Line' up the anti to keep the album ticking over. 'The cunningly titled Ska Song' is another fine song
with (surprise surprise) a ska riff opening the song before the customary pace change comes in. Arguably 'Hey Lags, Nice Slacks' is the song of the album. Everything about Captain Everything we have come to expect is crammed into the song, and 'All my clothes are brown' complements it well as a follow up.
Arguably the cheesiest song is 'MILF' which im sure needs no explaining if you are a fan of bawdy comedies. 'Watford Pride' is an adapted Hi-Standard cover in an ode to there North London homestead, and the album completes with 'Casablanca' with a secret track and mutterings tacked on the end to get you chuckling.
Captain Everything in my opinion are at the front of the rejuvinated English punk scene. Don't expect anything new in terms of songs about girls, but you do get frenetic sharp cutting punk which can appeal to fans of all the punk
sub genre's. The trio are about to embark on a tour with Ska-supremo's
'Mustard Plug', catch them while you can as the hardworking trio are set to start work on a new album. Oh Helen!
Jay
