25th November 2009

Audio with 8 plays

Capgun Coup - Sitting on the Sidewalk
Maudlin (Team Love)

In general, I’m pretty much always annoyed by alliteration, so Capgun Coup kind of bothered me right off the bat.  But it was a good thing that I moved past that, because their new album, Maudlin, alliteration aside, is actually pretty good.  The band hails from Omaha, Nebraska, which seems like its got a pretty good garage rock scene going on; you might remember Brimstone Howl and Box Elders…

So, as I’m sure you can imagine, its lo-fi rock, and cuts like “Sitting on the Sidewalk” really show off some rock chops, and “Got Alot of Gull” swings and stomps.  But the album also has a sprinkling of some weirder stuff - sometimes in the usual sense of the word, sometimes just weird in comparison to the garage rock norm - like “Fishlip,” which involves a touch of Ivan Julian-esque lead-guitar work, and “For Fish,” which reminds me of that Primus song, “You Can’t Kill Michael Malloy,” with its dreamy waltz feel.  Fish.  I would’ve liked to see more of that on the record, I think, but all in all, it’s a solid effort.

Out now (I think) on Team Love Records.

Tagged: stuck in thee garage