Driving All Night,
Cape CanaveralCape Canaveral play the kind of sweeping indie-rock that you'll either come to adore or merely brush aside as another band that are playing the dreaded 'emo' card. Personally I'm part of the former group and 'Driving All Night' is a wonderfully lush EP that showcases this Nottingham band's obvious talent. While there are nods towards the Jade Tree label and the more melodic stylings of the likes of alternative mulit-million selling rockers Remy Zero, CC carve a nice niche into the market with their own sound.
This record is their third release and after doing a little research by tracking down the odd old song, it's safe to say the band haven't moved on all that much, but the added maturity in their writing is apparent. With a lovely raw production courtesy of Paul Yeadon and Johnny Carter, Graham Blackwell and Chris Kaye's vocals are allowed to interact and the guitars buzz with a rawness that gives this a true indie feel. It's hard to explain, all that should be said is that if you like the likes of Mineral or, a little closer to home, My Awesome Compilation, Cape Canveral are worthy of your time.
Over the space of seven tracks the trio take you through their own little melodic world, and more than one song would easily fit onto the soundtrack of one of those US teen dramas where the characters are all 30+ in real life. Try listening to 'Return Of Romance' without thinking of a 'moment' in Dawson's Creek or Smallville - it's lovely stuff. EP opener 'On Fire' kicks things off with a riff which is as crunchy as the band get, guitars soar and drums kick and the vocals appear from the background to lead the emotional charge. The badly named 'The Last Song Ever' is as anthemic as anything the underground will have heard in a while, while the twee 'Return Of Romance' gives the heartstrings a good yank. Emo? Nah. Emotional? Quite definietly.
'Red Wine and Cigarettes' turns things up a notch with a palm-muted guitar riff, drums ever-slowly building up in the background. It's cleverly layered and sounds like something special, twisting and turning through a melodic web of a chorus. The slow burning 'Sunday's Driving' is another track which really wears its heart on the sleeve, Cape Canaveral don't hide anything and hats off to them. It does sound a little American, but when songs seem as natural as this, why complain? 'Kick His Lungs Out' is excellent, although by this point the songs do sound a little formulaic. There's a tried and tested system and the band are sticking to it - and who can blame them? Just in the scope of seven songs you can do so much and maybe because their talent is obvious, I'm left wanting that little bit more. I await the moon to be passed to me on a stick. 'Bullet To Beijing' rounds things off nicely, a lovely song on a lovely EP. Makes this job worthwhile when you get gems like this sent through the post to review.
Perhaps a little long for an EP at seven songs, Cape Canaveral have enough in their jet-packs to propel them into the next stratosphere. OK, lame analogies aside, this is certainly a band that have forged a nice little record into the annals of music history. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the least bit sensitive.
www.capecanaveralrock.co.uk
Paul
