Matthew Tsai
07/09/08, 07:30 PM
Capital Lights - This is An Outrage!
Record Label: Tooth & Nail Records
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Tooth and Nail has signed some just downright awful bands lately (come on... Secret & Whisper, Since October?) and time will tell if Capital Lights will join that list. But for now, the band will maintain a decent status with This Is An Outrage!, which will quickly be added to the growing list of summer pop-punk albums.
Now, it should be noted that I almost always take 9 to 10 listens to fully grasp any band's sound, but This Is An Outrage! is not that kind of album, even for me. The opening chord of each song will easily give you the key necessary to predict exactly how the rest of the song goes. The album is twelve straight tracks of unabashed pop-punk; there are no secrets here. It should also be noted that with the band's Tooth and Nail debut, they have exchanged their former, almost indie pop-punk sound (as present on the Revival of the Fittest EP back when they were afterEight) for a blatantly mainstream one. To specify, they got [i]synthed[i]! Is it progression if a pop-punk band goes mainstream? I’m undecided; you be the judge. And as a side note, the album art is indeed an excellent piece of work. Though jarring to the eyes at first, it’s the kind of art that will be remembered several years down the road.
The album embarks with the ultra-catchy single, “Outrage.” The synths are immediately present (even before the signature power chords), which will leave listeners already tired of the blossoming electronic scene cringing. The synths actually work very well in this song though and the chorus will successfully get on your nerves (which is necessary for this kind of band). The track immediately follows up with “Worth As Much As A Counterfeit Dollar,” one of the two tracks re-recorded from the EP (the other being “The Night Of Your Life Is When You'll Die”). Both are standout tracks of the album and showcase the bands’ former curious harmonic melodies, which was what helped them stand apart from the rest of the scene at the time. Several tracks down, “Remember the Day” is probably the most engaging “new” song and sounds like it would fit perfectly on any Jimmy Eat World album.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album mostly blends with what bands like Forever the Sickest Kids are currently doing. Their newly polished sound also draws plenty of comparisons with labelmates Run Kid Run, which in my case, served as a bit of a turn-off. The curious harmonic melodies are not completely gone (“Out of Control,” “Let the Little Lady Talk”), but are largely stifled. Not that this is necessarily bad, but it does make many tracks seem rather bland, and as with almost every pop-punk record in history, just plain boring by the time you get to the end of the disc. This is not to say that individually, the songs are not still fun to groove to on those summer days This Is An Outrage! is especially crafted to brighten.
Lyrically, the band captures mostly motivational themes; the kind of lyrics that they hope will move you to make a difference in the world. Bland? Maybe... but far better than lyrics about love and relationships and the diction used will keep the lyrics fresh and enjoyable. Besides, who can argue with a line like, “Can I open with a question? / Not a sugar coated lesson / Less than 20 minutes later when / I'm catching dirty looks from the ones who won't admit when they're wrong / Scaring all the girls just by repeating the name of this song” or “Throw the dirt and leave the path feet covered up so we don’t know your there / Hold your breath until your heart stops beating so fast / You’re giving orders from the back seat while the passengers are all unaware / Hold your breath until your heart stops beating so fast”? While the band is either a “Christian band” or “Christians in a band,” spiritual references are minimal, only showing up flagrantly in “Return” and otherwise exist as metaphors.
In the end, the main letdown of the album is the fact that this band had an ample amount of potential to write songs that could very well make them the next decent pop-punk hit, but instead are writing songs that prompt people to categorize them as merely “generic.” Whether this is because of the influence of the label or not is not really that big of a deal. What is important, however, is that Capital Lights swim themselves out of this monotonous sea of electro-pop before they make another album. In the meantime, fans will still have fun with This Is An Outrage!
Run Kid Run, Forever the Sickest Kids, pure diabetic sugar-coated pop punk
myspace.com/capitallights (http://www.myspace.com/capitallights)
Record Label: Tooth & Nail Records
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Tooth and Nail has signed some just downright awful bands lately (come on... Secret & Whisper, Since October?) and time will tell if Capital Lights will join that list. But for now, the band will maintain a decent status with This Is An Outrage!, which will quickly be added to the growing list of summer pop-punk albums.
Now, it should be noted that I almost always take 9 to 10 listens to fully grasp any band's sound, but This Is An Outrage! is not that kind of album, even for me. The opening chord of each song will easily give you the key necessary to predict exactly how the rest of the song goes. The album is twelve straight tracks of unabashed pop-punk; there are no secrets here. It should also be noted that with the band's Tooth and Nail debut, they have exchanged their former, almost indie pop-punk sound (as present on the Revival of the Fittest EP back when they were afterEight) for a blatantly mainstream one. To specify, they got [i]synthed[i]! Is it progression if a pop-punk band goes mainstream? I’m undecided; you be the judge. And as a side note, the album art is indeed an excellent piece of work. Though jarring to the eyes at first, it’s the kind of art that will be remembered several years down the road.
The album embarks with the ultra-catchy single, “Outrage.” The synths are immediately present (even before the signature power chords), which will leave listeners already tired of the blossoming electronic scene cringing. The synths actually work very well in this song though and the chorus will successfully get on your nerves (which is necessary for this kind of band). The track immediately follows up with “Worth As Much As A Counterfeit Dollar,” one of the two tracks re-recorded from the EP (the other being “The Night Of Your Life Is When You'll Die”). Both are standout tracks of the album and showcase the bands’ former curious harmonic melodies, which was what helped them stand apart from the rest of the scene at the time. Several tracks down, “Remember the Day” is probably the most engaging “new” song and sounds like it would fit perfectly on any Jimmy Eat World album.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album mostly blends with what bands like Forever the Sickest Kids are currently doing. Their newly polished sound also draws plenty of comparisons with labelmates Run Kid Run, which in my case, served as a bit of a turn-off. The curious harmonic melodies are not completely gone (“Out of Control,” “Let the Little Lady Talk”), but are largely stifled. Not that this is necessarily bad, but it does make many tracks seem rather bland, and as with almost every pop-punk record in history, just plain boring by the time you get to the end of the disc. This is not to say that individually, the songs are not still fun to groove to on those summer days This Is An Outrage! is especially crafted to brighten.
Lyrically, the band captures mostly motivational themes; the kind of lyrics that they hope will move you to make a difference in the world. Bland? Maybe... but far better than lyrics about love and relationships and the diction used will keep the lyrics fresh and enjoyable. Besides, who can argue with a line like, “Can I open with a question? / Not a sugar coated lesson / Less than 20 minutes later when / I'm catching dirty looks from the ones who won't admit when they're wrong / Scaring all the girls just by repeating the name of this song” or “Throw the dirt and leave the path feet covered up so we don’t know your there / Hold your breath until your heart stops beating so fast / You’re giving orders from the back seat while the passengers are all unaware / Hold your breath until your heart stops beating so fast”? While the band is either a “Christian band” or “Christians in a band,” spiritual references are minimal, only showing up flagrantly in “Return” and otherwise exist as metaphors.
In the end, the main letdown of the album is the fact that this band had an ample amount of potential to write songs that could very well make them the next decent pop-punk hit, but instead are writing songs that prompt people to categorize them as merely “generic.” Whether this is because of the influence of the label or not is not really that big of a deal. What is important, however, is that Capital Lights swim themselves out of this monotonous sea of electro-pop before they make another album. In the meantime, fans will still have fun with This Is An Outrage!
Run Kid Run, Forever the Sickest Kids, pure diabetic sugar-coated pop punk
myspace.com/capitallights (http://www.myspace.com/capitallights)