Kill the Captains

The fact that this album opens with ‘Umami’ – the ‘5th taste’ in oriental terms, vaguely savory but not really recognised by anyone in the west – may be significant.
Kill the Captains are a undefinable and possibly acquired taste. Sounds Mean’s opening salvo is in fact a jerky indie-friendly tune, possibly one that could make girls dance. It contrasts with what follows, in particular ‘Refutenic’, a slab of retro proto-funk. In the main it’s palatable indie-pop, and accomplished at that – ‘Share The Load’ boasts a spidery guitar line, although it’s maybe a bit too commercial for these ears. Although not as much as ‘The Taking Of’, dreamy shoegaze that’s pretty lightweight given what’s gone before.
‘Disco Nazi’ shows the best of the band – late 80s no-wave/funk a la Shriekback or Dub Sex, with a line in sardonic wit – “Who the hell do you think you are, John Travolta? It’s not the movies”. Indeed. Shake your ass to this.