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Captain Everything!

It's Not Rocket Science

Written by: PP on 23/12/2009 05:20:26

You'd think that punk and speed go enough hand in hand for me not to single out the speed as the key aspect of a punk album, but you're wrong. While most punk albums do indeed live and die on breakneck speed delivery, no one is quite as fast as Captain Everything!, the fastest band on the planet that I've come across. One of my friends introduced me to the band back in 2004, and I've been hooked to their hyperactive melodic punk / pop punk / ska punk ever since.

You see, not only do these Watford, UK based guys break every imaginable speed record when it comes to playing music on "It's Not Rocket Science" (they're often referred to as 100MPH punk rock), but they also inject the sort of infectious choruses to the mix that, if these guys slowed down just a bit, would've sold a few hundred thousand copies of the album at the very least. Because if you're not singing along to the bouncy chorus of "Rocket Science?", dancing along to the ridiculously fast ska-rhythms of "Problem With Numbers", or pumping your fist to the hardcore-influenced "Dear John Exam", then it's very likely you just don't like catchy music, there's something very wrong with your ears, or both. Because reduced to its very core, Captain Everything!'s music is pop punk with a strong leaning on the pop side of things. It's just delivered at a speed that'll make you lose your license if you ever pop on this disc while driving. If you ever though d-beat was boring, then check this shit out, because the drummer is so fast you won't have time to wonder if he's repeating the same pattern or not.

Although about 9 out of 14 tracks on the disc are made out of pure awesome (how can you not love a song called "Drink 'Till I'm Sick Polka"?), the other five tracks fall quite a bit short, so the record does lack a bit in the consistency department. That's why it's hard to rate it any higher, even though I'd say this record definitely hangs out somewhere in the top30-top40 area of the best punk albums this decade. Nevertheless, songs like "I'd Rather Have A Full Bottle In Front Of Me Than A Full Frontal Lobotomy" are bound to make you dance frantically from wall to wall, so don't miss out on the fun.

Download: Chance Of A Lunchtime, Dear John Exam, Rocket Science?
For the fans of: Belvedere, Bigwig
Listen: Myspace

Release date 17.07.2003
Household Name Records