Capybara: Dave Drusky
Kansas City wunderkind, Capybara have today released their second full length album, Dave Drusky through The Record Machine. Their last release Try Brother, made them indie-darlings equivalent to Zooey Deschanel, but it seems the group is struggling a bit with their sophomore follow up.
While the dreamy atmospheres we all loved from Try Brother, is as present as ever, in fact expanded on production-wise, it comes at a loss to over-all direction. I find myself getting lost from one track to the next, wondering where the first ended and the last one began. Another troubling aspect is the meandering presence of the album’s single, “Late Night Bikes.” Traditionally, the single, especially the first single to be released is meant to pull you into the album, inspire curiosity and intrigue, and give you a flavor of the chops for the whole album. Maybe these days where a casual fan is much more likely to download a single rather than purchase the album, the importance of the single takes a backseat. Either way, “Late Night Bikes,” fails to generate much more than an ambivalent shrug, and that seems to be a perfect relation of the album as a whole.
The tracks are neither happy nor sad, neither energetic nor lagging, and come complete with titles that suggest nothing towards the motivation behind the subject. As well, the lyrics are often muddied behind the music, and seem to create nothing but confusion. And I get it, there’s not much to be gained when art is immediately apparent, but at the same time being purposely obscure has never been a great outlet for relevancy.
I don’t want to be too negative though. The music can be quite lovely, especially on tracks like “Pierre Bensusan,” and “Ruby Eyelids” with the jingle-jangle guitars and echo laden vocals, however, it still isn’t enough to carry an entire album.
Rating: 5.5/10
Download: Capybara “Wild”
Buy: iTunes or iTunes
Capybara: Dave Drusky
Well, you’re wrong about everything. It’s okay, apology accepted.
I think you guys forgot to listen to the album.
But you like Lana Del Ray…?
two different writers reviewed Lana Del Rey and the Capybara record.
To all,
Sorry, I generally like to reply to the readers sooner, but and so I’m only now getting around to it. I realize there’s some disappointment going on, and I’ll justify it this way: Harry Connic Jr. recently said you cannot quantify music in order to judge its growth the way you can a sports team or stock. But we here at Surviving the Golden Age do just that, and we’re also doing our best to be honest, thereby not kowtowing to whatever and ever industry/social/personal/political trend, while retaining some shred of subjectivity, even when bowled over or else enraged by a particular peice of music, so that you dear reader, may judge for yourself. At times those opinions will differ, but isn’t that why we love music anyway?
Thanks for reading folks!
Kackie: You may be right, and I’ll admit the album sounds a lot better through earbuds than over speakers, but at the same time it still failed to catch my attention. Also, I had some freinds over for drinks and showed it off to them. (I fully realize the buzz it garnered.) It failed to produce even a “Who’s this?” from the crowd.
So maybe my freinds and I are a bunch of drunks who spend too much time watching tv and following the radio, or maybe it’s just a mediocre album. Chances are better than not I’ll come to eat my words, but for now the rating stands.
Nate: C’mon, were working our butts off for you here. We’ll do you one better next time.
Chris: That del Ray is some good stuff. Real good stuff, and it’s a good thing I didn’t cover that album because I probably would have given it double the rating it got. Give her another try…
Ray