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Demo Review
Captain Kennedy Hard Time Wakin' In The Mornin'
Article written by
Hattie N - Aug 22, 2005
Diversity. A good or bad thing? Surely in musical terms it’s good, meaning a band doesn’t descend into boring sameyness. But Captain Kennedy take the notion of diversity just a little too far, in that the three songs on their debut EP sound like three completely different bands.
It gets off to a good start. Opener “Sweetest Friend” is gorgeous, a gentle but sumptuous love song which is sentimental but not cheesy. Ciaran Lavery sounds like a less whiney and more gravely Ryan Adams as he sings lines as touching as “There aint no lovin like the lovin of my sweetest friend”. It’s really rather winsome and beautiful. Track two, “Hard To Find”, however, is uninspiring hillbilly-rock of the kind that Kings Of Leon would churn out in what little sleep they get between groupies and then throw away pronto. Closer “Bill Bussa Blues”, meanwhile, sounds every bit as monstrous as the title. It’s painful biker rawk which sounds scaringly similar to, whisper it, Stereophonics, at their most lacklustre and dull. Ouch.
It all leaves the poor old listener very confused. Almost as confused, perhaps, as the band themselves, who obviously can’t decide what type of band they actually want to be. If they decide to build on the acoustic loveliness of the first track then surely stardom beckons. If not, the job centre it is. So, your honour, diversity; good in moderation but baffling in the extreme.