Zzzzzz is it finished yet?
Capulet's latest release, 'The world is a tragic world, but there is grace all around us, so attend the grace,' or TWIATWBTIGAAUSATG for short, came to me in a sealed paper bag. Very novel and quite original I thought. It seemed a shame to break the seal of such natty packaging, and after a few spins of this disk I really wish I hadn't.
Five songs make up this E.P's thirty-five minute run time, and when the press release has such phrases as 'Capulet appear to want their listeners to be lulled into a false sense of security,' and 'Long passages of minimal sound and barely detectable intent...' the pretentious, self indulgent claptrap alarm bells started to ring. And when I read the phrase, '...in a realm where you can't lie passive with a handy lyric to act as a life-raft,' I stepped up the alarm bells to a full-blown red alert.
Opener 'Die Die Disco Death' is two minutes of hums and an electronic drumbeat. 'F#' meanders its merry way around the speakers for almost five minutes before deciding to crash in with a chord sequence (it wouldn't happen to be in the key of F# by any chance lads?). 'Boys Vs Girls' follows the same pattern of, quiet start with a crash bang wallop ending. Yes, as a listener, I was lulled into a false sense of security, I honestly didn't think Capulet were going to be as dull as this. 'No time spoke the clocks' carries on the yawn-a-thon, slowly building and reaching a crescendo before stopping and changing direction at the 4:12 mark. I sighed when I realised it wasn't over and there was another six minutes of the song to go. After twenty minutes of long drawn out twaddle we are treated to the first vocals on the disk (yes, twenty minutes before the singing starts). But we only get a couple of lines before it's back to the minimalist dirge. 'Champ' goes once again for the monotony jugular with another ten minutes of snore inducing instrumental passages.
I've been a little unfair on Capulet because there are some nice ideas on 'TWIATWBTIGAAUSATG,' it's just a pity they're contained within a musical slow death so to speak. The production, a very acoustic and raw sound, is excellent as the parts that do crash have the desired effect (the middle of 'Champ' being a particularly good example). But sadly these are few and far between. The problem I have with ' TWIATWBTIGAAUSATG,' is that it could be so much better with a more honed and focused song-writing style that utilises the vocals a little more. The band will probably argue this will take away the uniqueness of the band, but I would disagree. There are many ways to get this style of atmospheric rock across to the listener, I just don't think having thirty-five minutes of music, with very little to capture the ear of the listener, is the way to do it. At least now I have a nice little paper bag to keep my medication in, thanks Capulet.