Preview
THE CAPITALS
Thursday, February 10
Canmore Hotel
Friday, February 11
Broken City
Cutline: Whitehorse of bust – Vancouver’s The Capitals are well-schooled in indie pop, but they don’t let that limit their ambition
A lot of bands talk big. Hell, a lot of them even act big. But one look at the Billboard music charts confirms that, usually, there are only 200 bands that are big.
In truth, the best most bands can hope for is a show or two here and there and the chance to record an album that they can sell at those shows. For the Vancouver outfit known as The Capitals, the fact that the odds are stacked against them isn’t slowing them down much.
"If you are going to try and do it as a musician, why not aim right for the top?" says the band’s vocalist-guitarist Patrick Jacobson. "If we’re going to be out there we might as well try to be the biggest band in the world. There is no point in setting your goals in being the next Sloan or the next Posies. Not as a slight on them – I think they are fantastic bands – but if we got to that status then you have already achieved your goal…. We always have to set our goals to be unattainable or seemingly unattainable so that we are always striving for the next step."
Originally named Casey and Finnegan, The Capitals christened themselves with a pseudo-Simpsons reference after confused audiences started showing up expecting a folk duo. This infectious rock outfit may have had a rocky start after forming in 2001, but for the last two years they have been moving steadily forward. Their first show was with Vancouver hipsters Girl Nobody. Their second show saw them share the stage with Canadian indie darlings Stars.
"We became very determined at that point and decided that we had a legit shot at doing this," says Jacobson. "So we started pushing really hard and now we have a CD out." And unlike so many others, The Captials’ debut album, Broadcast One, wasn’t cobbled together from basement recordings and midnight studio sessions. Instead, the band received high-profile help in the form of producer Kevin Kane from The Grapes of Wrath and engineer Stephen Drake from the Odds.
Kane had been showing an increased interest in the Vancouver scene and started producing a few bands that he liked, most notably Zumpano and The Salteens. According to Jacobson, The Capitals approached Kane at one of his solo shows in Vancouver and he became enthusiastic after hearing the demos. He even started attending the band’s practices, helping them arrange songs before they hit the studio. By the time they were ready to record in the spring of 2004, they were all on the same page, and since Drake (who has mixed such high-profile albums as Trouble at the Henhouse for The Tragically Hip and Trusted by Millions for 54-40) was friends with Kane, it was an easy addition to the mix.
Even with these heavy hitters, Jacobson says that it wasn’t a case of big names trying to overshadow the little band. "They really gave us an opportunity to do what we wanted in the studio," he says. "It sounds like The Capitals. It doesn’t sound like Kevin Kane. It doesn’t sound like Steven Drake, although they’ve certainly had their influence on the record. It’s definitely distinctly The Capitals’ sound."
To be fair, The Capitals’ sound is a perfect fit for Kane and Drake. Kane says that the band sounds like Sloan covering Oasis, but to rely on that description buries the band with a whole host of other Beatles wannabes. The pop hook is there, to be sure, but there is a contemporary edge to the jangly melodies and slippery riffs. Whether it is the mid-tempo rocker "Fine" or the Seattle-tinged British invasion grind of "Circle Game," The Capitals are clearly knowledgeable students in the school of rock.
With the album finished, the band is now in the position of having to make the record work for them. Every struggling musician has an album. The question at that point becomes what do you do with it? Although Kane and Drake are both committed to a second album with The Capitals, those promises will be for nothing if the debut doesn’t succeed. Touring is an obvious step, but where most bands would try to play a few dates on the prairies and then test the waters out east, The Capitals have already signed up for a gruelling tour schedule. After the requisite western swing they have a series of shows that, in all honesty, looks like a typographical error on their website. From February 13 to March 9 they will be playing The Capital Hotel in Whitehorse. You wanna hear the kicker? This isn’t the first time they played have there.
"We played up in Whitehorse in the summer," says Jacobson. "It was one of those gigs where we figured, let’s just take the gig, because it will be one of those interesting experiences. We’ll be playing somewhere we have never played before and just imagine how tight the band is going to sound when we come out of this."
While other bands might scoff at three weeks north of 60, The Capitals are playing it smart. The time they spend as a working band gets them one step closer to being the band they want to be.
"There’s not a lot that we end up spending money on, so it’s great," says Jacobson. "When we come back we actually have enough money to fund another tour or go back in the studio and record some more stuff or get some Capitals T-shirts made."
With their second three-week stint in the Yukon, The Capitals are taking the pay-to-play obstacle that most young bands face and turning it upside down. Jacobson admits that they are required to play open jams and covers, but they are lucky enough to do it on their own terms. And, like a band that is aiming for the top, The Capitals aren’t without a list of demands.
"We weren’t interested in going up there and playing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ or ‘Freebird.’ We’ve strayed away from all that and let them know that … we don’t really know ‘Brown Eyed Girl.’ We do the covers that we want to do."
CELEB TOP FIVE
The Top Five indie-pop albums according to Patrick Jacobson of The Capitals:
1. Insurgence Alert by The Rye Catchers
2. Let Go of Your Bad Days by The Salteens
3. Frosting on the Beater by The Posies
4. Thirteen by Teenage Fanclub
5. Glazed by Mystery Machine |
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