Reviews

So, the first debut album from The Capes – a brash and energetic British band hailing from South London. Although you must not ‘judge a book by its cover’, the bright yellow album cover sums up its contents quite nicely. It is hard not to like most of the songs on this album, bursting with clout and choruses that remind us of Blur, The Jam, Futureheads and even, quite bizarrely, The Beach Boys at times. This is an eclectic album that showcases the talents of a young British band eager to prove themselves worthy of your attention.

For the most part they succeed. ‘Carly’, a classic sub-3 minute song with sharp vocals from frontman Kris Barratt dovetails with pounding drums and retro-keyboards that will have even the most leaden-foot tapping by its end. Other songs unashamedly use the keyboard to great effect – for example, the synthesizer lure of ‘Shinjuku Hi 5’, the guitar and synth led introduction of ‘Stately Homes’ (which must surely be radio-bound?) are hook-laden and inviting. In every song there is the confidence of the contender, like the lazy guitar swagger in ‘American Broads’, the opening track on the album. Before we quite know what has happened we find ourselves being led to the strangely soporific instrumental conclusion of ‘Sun Roof.’

If there is a criticism to be made, it is one of inconsistency. We cannot yet say ‘this is what The Capes sounds like’ because they are still very much all over the place. Whilst it is easy to imagine experiencing The Capes at a gig, we await with anticipation the distillation of their continued evolution on their next release.