Album Review: Alright The Captain - SNIB

Alright The Captain have attempted the almost impossible: creating a full-length album with virtually no vocals. That's right, 10 tracks without a hint of a lyric, bar two lines in two songs. It's ambitious to say the least. But guess what? It turns out that vocals are quite a vital part of a good record. Even if the three-piece had included any, I'm still not convinced that 'SNIB' would be anything special. The experimental prog-rock sound is an acquired taste at best, and one that I clearly haven't developed yet.

Having said that, the first track 'Rostov Could Get It' is the kind of track that has potential. After the first minute or so it finally finds a coherent rhythm that is actually quite catchy, but after that it's all downhill. 'Mega Mega Drive' again has buckets of potential. Somehow though, it just seems amateur and never quite delivers.

This carries on into 'Guilt', which starts off well, but quickly becomes messy. And I hate to say it, but this is a common theme on this album: 'Pay Off' seems to have the drummer and guitarists playing two different songs. It doesn't flow, and ruins any sort of rapport that Alright The Captain might have built up with the listener.

'Honey Badger' features some brief vocals, and some very tasty guitar riffs. It's still not an easy song to listen to, but at least it has a bit more rhyme and reason to it. One of the better tracks on the album by far. Ending with 'Clamp' was a good move. Another good track filled with hooks, and one of the few that doesn't become monotonous. Unfortunately though, it doesn't make up for the majority of the album.

Overall, 'SNIB' does have a handful of ok songs, but really there's nothing to make you sit up and take notice. And in this case, the good doesn't even come close for making up for the bad. Without lyrics Alright The Captain have nothing to hide behind, and this ambitious idea has not paid off.

1.5/5

'SNIB' by Alright The Captain is available now on Field Records.

Alright The Captain on MySpace, Facebook and Bandcamp

Words by Blaise Ruston