Singles

Captain Phoenix - Living on the Guest List

Tim Miller 03/03/2007

Rating: 2/5

Captain Phoenix is not a name that rings any bells, but then in this era of online music fanbases every emerging artist is someone's favourite new band. This lot are a Hampshire-based four-piece, whose debut single looks great, the CD artwork done up to imitate a vinyl record. The song itself is a tight, upbeat Razorlight-esque two and a half minutes with a contrasting, melancholic bluesy chorus. Captain Phoenix sound young, but they have a neatly produced and organised sound, if a little straightforward at the moment.

That said, the album sampler tracks show other sides to Captain Phoenix, including a fuzzy, Carl Barat-fronting-Placebo style of indie, an acoustic number reminiscent of a certain Kooky group whose album tore up 2006, even including the line People ought to move in their own ways, and Loneliness, a disco-indie stomper, which is perhaps the most exciting offering here.

The minor problem with this single/sampler, though, is that despite an accomplished and clearly talented band, Captain Phoenix appropriate several genres which have served various bands very well recently, and don't really cover new ground with them. They offer a range of perfectly credible songs in different styles, but the crunch will come with their album, and it will be interesting to see which way Captain Phoenix believe is the best path to take to go on from here.

Released 5th March.

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