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)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Album Review: The 69 Cats - "Seven Year Itch"

Image
  Started up as a side project a decade or so ago by frontman Jyrki from Finnish goth/glam legends the 69 Eyes and guitarist Danny B Harvey (Lemmy's six stringer in his Headcat side project), the 69 Cats have been joined by Damned drummer Rat Scabies for this, their second album. A hell of a pedigree then, but can this album live up to it? Pleased to report that the answer is yes - opener She's Hot  kicks in with a winsome mix of Jyrki's Glenn Danzig-meets-Pete-Steele croon, Harvey's frenetic shredding guitar and Scabies' pounding drums and when it's followed by a superbly sinister cover of Post Malone's Hollywood's Bleeding , you know we're in safe hands here. You're The Kind Of Girl  starts off as a mid-paced rocker before unexpectedly breaking into a full on psychobilly breakdown for the middle eight. Decent enough but it feels like a bit of a step down after that opening one-two. However, the spaghetti westernisms of Good Time To Die  take th
Read more

Garbage Days Revisited #38: Slaughter & The Dogs - "Do It Dog Style" (1978)

Image
"When you're gonna sink so low/That's when you wanna have another go..."  - Slaughter & The Dogs  - You're A Bore I've often said in past editions of both Sounds From The Junkshop and Garbage Days Revisited that the best rock 'n' roll, whether it comes from the midwest diners of the '50s, the garages of the '60s, glam rock, punk rock or anything since, is something deeply primal. It's the sort of thing that makes you want to neck a beer, howl at the moon and headbang along until your neck snaps. And that's, to me, what makes Slaughter & The Dogs arguably the great unsung heroes of '77 punk. The group were there right at the beginning of punk and were straight out of the gate with the Buzzcocks in the first wave of Manchester punk although as their name (half Bowie's Diamond Dogs  and half Mick Ronson's Slaughter On Fifth Avenue ) suggests, their roots actually lay in glam rock a couple of years earlier. Their first s
Read more

Nite Songs Top 50 Albums of 2023 - Part 1 (50-41)

Image
  Okay, here we go friends, once more unto the breach... You know how this thing works now, ten albums a day from now until New Year's Eve - Bandcamp links (where we've got 'em) by clicking on the title. Let's do this. 50.     ASH - "Race The Night" I suppose the big problem with Ash is that, for better or worse, they will always be singing over the echoes of their glory years in the late '90s and early '00s. However, Race The Night  might just be their strongest effort since Meltdown  way back in 2004 - an enjoyable slice of power-pop with the tunes and melodies of old rightly pushed back to the fore where they belong. One of the more unexpectedly enjoyable comebacks of 2023. *** 49.     OBEY ROBOTS - "One In A Thousand" This collaboration between Laura Kidd (She Makes War/Penfriend) and guitarist Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin) proved to be another good addition to both of the involved parties' back catalogue. A collection of dark odes t
Read more