Album Review: Kid Kapichi - "Here's What You Could Have Won"

 

Hailing from Hastings, Kid Kapichi appear to have been picking up a few plaudits in recent months so it seemed a good opportunity to check out what the fuss is about by giving their recently released second album a listen. And I'm happy to say that it's a case of the hype being justified.

Basically, think Slaves or Sleaford Mods if they'd taken some songwriting lessons from Bob Vylan and you wouldn't be a million miles from Here's What You Could Have Won - it's a mixture of distorted riffs, electro bleeps and King Blues style half-spoken, half-snarled vocals ranting at the state of the nation. The manifesto is writ large on opener New England, a despairing howl of frustration at the "I'm alright Jack" mentality of the nation with its hookline of "Is it that you can't change or that you won't change?". 5 Days On (2 Days Off) is a furious diatribe against the brain-killing routine of nine to five work that anyone who's ever been stuck in a monotonous job will be able to relate to. INVU and Supersoaker are similarly despairing at the monotony of every day existence and the days when you find yourself asking if this is really all there is to life.

The plaintive acoustic fury of Party At No. 10 shows a different side to the group's sound before Cops And Robbers ("We're only taking back what they already took") quickly amps the venom right up again. The dense almost suffocating Tar Pit almost goes into trip-hop-meets-metal territory  The piano balladry with bruises of Never Really Had You is another unexpected curveball before the chaotic Smash The Gaff does exactly what it says on the tin and the desolate Special (which comes on like a 21st century rewrite of the Specials' Ghost Town) signs this one off in fine style.

Having not heard Kid Kapichi before this album, I enjoyed this album - it's almost what you like to think would have happened with Idles if they hadn't disappeared up their own arses with Crawler. Like I said, trust me, the plaudits are definitely deserved with this band and you could do a lot worse than check Here's What You Could Have Won out.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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