Genre: alt-grunge
Cap’n Jazz got played to me in the music library the other week, and the sheer rawness hit me like a wall. Just from the album you can hear the energy – it’s phenomenal. This is another band for jumping around shouting and screaming and breaking things to. What more could you want?
Cap’n Jazz are a band part of the 90s-grunge era (formed in 1989 Chicago) and have released this album, which is essentially their “best hits” at the perfect moment – this style of music is one I keep seeing as a key influence for new bands. Nirvana and Pixies are all bands that you can hear coming back to life, and Cap’n Jazz are obviously another key influencer for the newer bands of the same genre.
What makes Cap’n Jazz different is the ups-and-downs of the music – there’s gentle singing whacked up to full-on screaming in about 10 seconds, thrashing drums and thudding guitars all fall through. I think my favourite musical aspect of this band is probably the singer – he really pulls off all the different styles. The eclectic mix really goes and, as much as my flatmates all hate it, there’s a fantastic cover of “Take Me Out”, full of the previously promised screamy/thrashy/generally alive music. There’s a mix of times and complex rhythms, going above and beyond the average new-era-grunge band.
This album is actually a compilation, a “best hits” album if you will, because Cap’n Jazz have actually been around a surprisingly long time. And we can see why – although this is a compilation, I don’t suppose the energy was ever dissipated.
C x
