Capybara – Dave Drusky

Dave Drusky is the sophomore LP from Kansas City, Missouri’s Capybara. This album permeates an organic feel, befitting for a band coming from the American Midwest. The over-dubbed vocals of the album give us the illusion that the lyrics are wind swept, caught up in the instrumentation and at times only barely made audible, as if they were just seeping through the music. Also, the seemingly slow pace of the tracks, gives us the impression that the guys in the band have all the time in the world, slowly taking the listener from one sonic place to another. I don’t mean that the tempos of the tracks are slow but more, there is space created within the songs where time seems slower and no one is in any particular hurry.

“Late Night Bikes” grounds us in Capybara’s reality; we’re taken on this bike ride with no particular end in mind. The groove of the tom drums mixed with the punchy bass line adds to this feeling of movement. There’s an innocence and familiarity to this journey, something that is found throughout the album.

“Neighbor Crimes” is another album highlight. The keys that start the song have this waif-like quality to them, which quickly gets overtaken by pulsing drums and the echo of guitars. We get lost in the dream of escaping to another country.

“Pierre Bensusan” begins with a heavy dose of synth creating this beautiful background canvass, which is then populated by the vocals, drums, and guitar. The sparse sounds of “Wild” beautifully echo along. The guitar chords ring out slowly which help to evoke a youthful imagery somewhere between pessimism and optimism; “we can try to do our best”.

I must be honest, my initial reaction was to simply dismiss this album and label it as slow and boring. However, the more I listened to it, the more I let the sounds swirl around in my head, the more endearing it became and the more I liked it. I like the grooves, I like the songs and most importantly I like the feelings I get listening to this album.

FINAL MARK: A