Sheffield act Kill The Captains certainly have an eye for the unusual when it comes to choosing subjects for their songs. ‘Santino’, for example, recounts the true story of a chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo who whittled objects from within his enclosure into missiles which he then directed at the zoo’s patrons. Musically, Kill The Captains themselves have some aggressive moments, but are adept at coupling their frantic guitar stabs and tempo changes with delicate arpeggios.
‘Rope’ features some lovely lilting guitars, as Leon Carter sings “Don’t act too smart/Don’t have an opinion/Don’t lift your head above the parapet.” Things then take a heavier turn on ‘Yellow Brush’, which boasts a riff of monolithic proportions. Meanwhile, ‘Clovers’ and ‘Lebanese’ slow things down and show a more tender side to the band, while ‘Rummy’ is a high-energy barnstormer.
Kill The Captains take some interesting musical diversions on ‘Fun Anxiety’ and it’s clear the band have put a lot of thought into the arrangements and dynamics of each song. While there are some energetic moments, much of the music has a slow-burning quality, and as a result this is an album which rewards patient listening.
The main problem ‘Fun Anxiety’ has is that it can feel too much like an indulgent rehearsal-room jam at points and perhaps Kill The Captains could benefit from taking a more direct approach to some of their songs. For example, the album’s most straightforward track- elegiac, acoustic-strummed closer ‘Harper’s Call’- is probably their best. All in all though, this is a worthy debut which sees Kill The Captains carve out their own original sound.