Keeping Up Appearances (Wind Up Toys - Capdown)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Wind Up Toys - Capdown
Date:	10/07/08 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A couple of pretty decent tracks, strong lyrics at times.

Disadvantages: Most of the album is really rather bland and forgettable.

Capdown was a Milton Keynes based band active between the years of 1997 and 2007. During the decade that the band was around three albums were released, the third and final of which was the 'Wind Up Toys' album. 'Wind Up Toys' was released through Fierce Panda Records in early 2007 and consists of twelve tracks. It is my opinion that this is by far the weakest of the three and every time I listen to this album I feel nothing but disappointment. The bands first two albums were excellent, 'Wind Up Toys' is nowhere near the same sort of quality however and only a few tracks present here really impress.

'Terms And Conditions Apply' is one of the few impressive tracks present here, and it's only really the lyrics that appeal to me. During the bands career Capdown had a lot of problems with record labels; this track lyrically looks into some of the issues that the band encountered and to listen to the lyrics here is really rather interesting. Instrumentally it's not the best piece of music in the world, vocally its incredibly punchy however and the lyrics always offer plenty here.

The album is guitar heavy and the guitar sound created throughout this album is always extremely hard hitting. The sound is quite limited, basic, and not very exciting to listen to; the twelve tracks present on this 'Wind Up Toys' album are however heavy and it really feels as though the band was letting out a lot of frustrations here. Lyrically this always sounds to be a frustrated band also, and given that the band decided to call it a day less than a year after the release of this album it's clear that the band really was extremely frustrated, tired even at this late stage of the career. There's a bit of ska present in the sound provided by a saxophone; nothing too exciting however and for the most part this album fails to ever really ignite.

Title track 'Wind Up Toys' is well worth listening to here, it's 'Keeping Up Appearances' however that truly steals the show on this album. It's such a powerful track; instrumentally brilliant and vocally excellent also. It's one of the finest tracks that Capdown ever recorded as a band; I absolutely love this track and never do I tire of listening to it. The guitar progression is strong, the vocals are powerfully shouted out, and every element of sound here just seems to erupt from the speakers as you listen to this track. Everything about it is highly impressive and 'Keeping Up Appearances' is without doubt the finest track that this album has to offer.

Unless you own the first two Capdown albums and really wish to complete your collection then I definitely wouldn't recommend investing in this 'Wind Up Toys' album; it's supremely poor when compared to the bands other albums and really has very few moments of excellence to offer. There are certainly a few tracks here that are worth checking out, most definitely 'Keeping Up Appearances' for one and 'Terms And Conditions Apply' also if you followed the bands career in any way and wish to hear of the bands experiences with record labels. This is not a great album, it's not even a good one; I would in fact go as far as to say that this is a really rather poor album from Capdown and a huge let down given how strong the bands first two albums are. Some of the tracks are worth listening to here, most however are best left ignored. It was a bad way for Capdown's ten year reign to end with an album as lacking as this one, it would probably have been better if the band had just left it at two and left the UK music scene with heads held high; this wasn't the case though and sadly this was Capdown's final and most miserable album ever to have been released.

I'd wholeheartedly recommend investing in Capdown's first two albums; 'Civil Disobedients', and 'Pound for the Sound' are well worth listening to, 'Wind Up Toys' on the other hand is not. If you really wish to complete your Capdown collection though then 'Wind Up Toys' can be bought from Amazon for a price of £8.98; my best advice is not to bother, and at that sort of price I certainly wouldn't ever even contemplate the thought of buying this album. Find 'Wind Up Toys' for a price of three pounds or less and maybe consider parting with your cash, think long and hard before you do so however as you're probably going to be left disappointed with what you hear.

Summary: 'Wind Up Toys' was Capdown's third and final album before deciding to call it a day.