Capitol 6
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Capitol 6

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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"Capitol 6 – Pretty Lost [Review and Full Album Stream]"

Capitol 6 is a beautiful disaster in form of folk rock. Pretty Lost is a creative masterpiece that seems to be lost in time. Rewind 50 years into the 60’s, Capitol 6 opens for Bob Dylan on his tour of England. Jump back to reality, and you have Capitol 6, side project gone completely right.

Malcolm Jack is responsible for this luxurious album that boast a classic feel with tambourine and pure sounding guitars with no distortion. Bass driven songs with an organ ever present, each instrument properly mixed. Not one instrument overpowers the other, which creates a great balanced feel. Classic is what Pretty Lost is, and the instrumentals really tell the story amidst creative lyrics.




The drumming is creative and fun with much of the tracks being fast paced. Coinciding with the bass, the rhythm of the drums is sporadic and unpredictable. The tambourine filling in some extra elements for the percussion section is necessary and soothing. The way the bass grooves in and out between the percussion and the guitar is beautiful.



The guitar playing itself is a marvel to behold. It seems to be more on the bluesy side, but the mixture is excellent. B.B. King would be proud to hear the art continue into other genres. The lack of distortion allows for a more twainy sound, which adds feeling behind the sound. The organ is all the while creating great harmony between the singer and guitar. There seems to exist a little welcome tension present that seem like everything is about to collapse, but never does.



Overall, Capitol 6 delivered an excellent album that is applauded by many in indie circles. Lucky Canadians will get to see them tour this summer throughout most of Canada. This album being a follow up to their EP Captain Rehab was much anticipated and not disappointing. Pretty Lost in time, but not in ability to write masterpieces.



-Butch Cassidy
- Ultra Vulgar Super Fiend


"Capitol 6 'Pretty Lost' (album stream)"

The side-project of Sun Wizard singer Malcolm Jack, Capitol 6 are set to release their debut LP Pretty Lost, and you can check it out here now.

Due out on Tuesday (June 12) via Light Organ Records, the full-length follows last spring's the Captain Rehab EP. It will be released as traditional CD and LP formats, as well as a limited-edition silkscreen poster with a download code.

Joining Jack in the band are fellow West Coast musicians from the likes of Bummer High, Chains of Love, Raccoons and Louise Burns's backing band, who have come together and created what has been described as "paisley-print jangle pop."

Looking back to big-name influences like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, in addition to the likes of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Black Angels, the group's "knowledge and appreciation for the past and their ability to use that knowledge to create new forms is evident" on Pretty Lost, the press release says.

As previously reported, the band are about to embark on a Canadian tour. You can see all the dates here. - Exclaim!


"Capitol 6 - What would Dylan do?"

The scene is a back lane off East Broadway where Capitol 6 guitarist and vocalist Malcolm Jack and I drop in on bandmate and bassist Matt Krysko, who is sitting in with desert-folk group Two Towns during a Mother’s Day recording session. The day is hot, though none of the six bodies cozied in the small shed-turned-recording studio seem to be bothered. A large ceiling fan spins overhead, offering only slight relief.
Breaking to join us, Krysko starts by taking us out front to give me a tour through the historic East Van building known as The Lido. Behind the stylish old storefront, a glass display case with aging yellow cans marked “Cola,” once belonging to the perennially vacant general store, has become a retro fixture lending the space a sort of antiquated charm. The upstairs has been remodeled into a hotel for bands touring through Vancouver, and an apartment Jack calls home with his girlfriend and cat.
The three of us settle upstairs on the sunny south-facing deck to talk about the June 12 release of Pretty Lost, Capitol 6’s full-length debut on Light Organ Records. Until recently, Capitol 6 was a casual thing born out of a one-night recording session last year that churned out the self titled EP Capitol 6. The band has finally settled on a permanent lineup with Henry Beckwith (keyboard) and recent additions Chris Alarcon (lead guitar) and Neil Corbett (drums).
Early recordings have been described as psych-folk-rock, but when questioned about genre, neither Jack nor Krysko seem overly concerned with the idea of style. Amongst their musical influences are the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, and while Capitol 6 is influenced both sonically and lyrically by the whatever-you-wanna-call-it rock tradition of the late 1960s, it’s their attitude toward making music that’s reminiscent of an earlier generation.
“What would Dylan do?” we laugh at the reference. Jack rolls with it, “But it’s not really like what chords would Dylan use, you know? The idea is more like what would Dylan do if he saw music the way it is now.” After a giving it some thought he adds, “we definitely don’t want to be just doing retro music, but there was a way and a reason that people were writing songs then.”
“And just putting out so much of it,” Krysko throws in.
1968 was a significantly influential year to Capitol 6. It saw momentous albums like The Notorious Byrd Brothers by the Byrds, Music from Big Pink by The Band, White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground and the self-titled debut solo album by Neil Young. Not to mention, the entire decade had an influx of racial and political turmoil, culminating with the assassination of Martin Luther King. In a way, the music of 1968 was born to rebel against the establishment.
While Pretty Lost isn’t a political album in the way that Dylan’s or Young’s were, it certainly embodies some of the ideals that had been promoted by Dylan and his contemporaries. Lyrics like “I wasn’t meant to call this world my home” on “Cold Ride” and “I’m pretty lost like you” on “Far Away” are feelings that might have been shared by an equally socially and politically volatile era.
“It’s hard to be political these days,” Jack admits. Nonetheless, the album is, as Jack puts it, “The story of now, a weird version of the blues that exists in 2012. It’s a maniacal time.” The title, Pretty Lost, are words that are certain to identify with this era’s zeitgeist.
Capitol 6’s eight-track album was recorded in eight days between the shed and at Little Red Sounds Studio in Vancouver with Felix Fung. Pretty Lost is an evolution in the group’s sound, resulting in a more cohesive project from start to finish. The album is folk-rock, only without the pastoral, nostalgic or elegiac moodiness. In place of those folk themes are feelings of urgency in both the music and lyrics. It comes across loud and clear with epic opener, “Playing Dead,” with help from keyboardist Henry Beckwith. The alluring eight-second - Discorder


"Capitol 6 "Cold Ride" (new track)"

Capitol 6 are preparing for the release of their new album 'Pretty Lost' on June 12th via Light Organ Records. Today the band unveiled the first single off of the album "Cold Ride" (below). - Tasty Ears


"Capitol 6's Pretty Lost is an ornate affair"

Capitol 6 leader Malcolm Jack may also write for local rockers Sun Wizard, but judging by the former’s debut full-length Pretty Lost, the singer-guitarist keeps his songs for each project separate. While Sun Wizard slugs out the kind of simply stated guitar anthems you’d expect to have been blasted at suburban tailgate parties in the late ’70s, Pretty Lost offers up something more ornate. Opener “Playing Dead” begins with some lively, old-time piano plunking courtesy of Henry Beckwith, before the whole band jumps into a hard-choogling railroad shuffle. The follow-up number “Cold Ride”, meanwhile, could jump-start a dance party with its sassy, ’60s psych-pop bent.

The eclectic approach to the eight-song set hints that the band is still trying to find its footing, but for the most part its experiments pay off handsomely. That said, the off-kilter caterwauling on the dusty-and-downtrodden chuckwagon ballad “Quit Your Job” leaves something to be desired, compared with the refined and luscious jangle of album highlight “Autumn in the Wind”. Sounding like it would fit somewhere on a playlist with the Fresh & Onlys and Real Estate, the stunner has Jack laying out nostalgic lyrics (“So what if we don’t keep in touch, girl/The past is perfect”) atop a dreamy bed of shimmering guitars and Beckwith’s almost show-stealing piano and organ work. Sun Wizard may have the meat-and-potatoes market cornered, but Capitol 6 has delivered something even more fulfilling with Pretty Lost.
- Straight.com


"Captiol 6: "Cold Ride""

As previously reported, Vancouver's Capitol 6 release their album Pretty Lost, on June 12th. You can hear a new track from the album now.
- Snob Music


"Capitol 6 Hit the Highway with Twin River"

With a sound that's been described as encompassing all eras of psychedelia from the 13th Floor Elevators to the Brian Jonestown Massacre with equal parts Neil Young and Bob Dylan, Vancouver's Capitol 6 have just announced a co-headlining Western Canadian tour with Light Organ label mates Twin River.

The tour kicks off in Vancouver on June 15th with Twin River's album release party and will roll back into Van City on June 30th for the record release party for Capitol 6's latest release Pretty Lost.

For a preview of the new Capitol 6 album, head here to give the first single 'Cold Ride' a listen.

And be sure to catch Capitol 6 and Twin River on the following dates;

06/15 Vancouver BC, China Cloud^
06/16 Kelowna BC, Fernando's*
06/17 Penticton BC, Voodoo's*
06/20-24 Calgary AB, Sled Island*
06/25 Lethbridge AB, The Slice*
06/26 Regina SK, Artful Dodger*
06/28 Edmonton AB, New City*
06/30 Vancouver BC, Princeton Pub#*

* w/ Twin River
^ Twin River Album Release
# Capitol 6 Release Show - North by East West


"Capitol 6 – Cold Ride"

“Cold Ride” is the new single from fab five outfit Capitol 6 by way of Vancouver. The track harkens back to psych-pop and all of it’s glory with a tambourine friendly A/B structure and refrain hook worthy of any record collection. - Blah Blah Blah Science


"Interview: Capitol 6"

Vancouver singer/songwriter Malcolm Jack has been hard at work this year but, rest assured, this does not make Jack a dull boy. (Sorry.) In March, his band Sun Wizard released one of the summer-pop albums of the year so far in the form of debut long-player Positively 4th Avenue, and yet he is already embarking on a fruitful side project with the more psychedelic yet equally gorgeous Capitol 6, whose Captain Rehab EP and "Fever"/"Henry's Opus" double single can be heard on their Bandcamp page. Rocksucker caught up with Malcolm to discuss matters from the perspective of this latter project...

Congratulations on all your sterling work so far this year. Who is Captain Rehab? I love the name – it puts me in mind of "Mr. Evasion" by The Pretty Things.

Thanks! Captain Rehab is sort of like my imaginary drinking buddy. The song's kind of a conversation with him about whether I should get my shit together or just say fuck it and lose it completely. I'm working on a song right now called "20, 000 Beers Under The Sea"!
How did you guys come together? And why the name Capitol 6? There appears to be only five of you...

I really lucked out with these guys. I was really just looking to record a few extra songs I had aside from Sun Wizard. Initially I was gonna record them solo, then I asked Dave our guitarist to help me out, and then the crew just kind of grew and I think Matt was added to the line-up like a day before we recorded our EP. But yeah, we're all definitely feelin' the vibe, we've been working on lots of new material and it's totally 'band' oriented.

The name Capitol 6 is actually a rip off from an old movie theater on Granville street in Vancouver that was torn down about 10 years ago. It had this crazy neon sign that came out over the sidewalk and it was super insane. After they closed it, the sign stayed for like five years just getting haggard - it's just a rad piece of Vancouver history. Plus I wanted a name that sounded like Spacemen 3...ha

Isn’t it a bit early into Sun Wizard’s career to be already doing side projects? Not that we’re complaining! Is it an excuse to indulge your more psychedelic instincts? Will the two bands continue to co-exist or will one take priority?

Yeah it is, I totally fucked that up! Ya maybe it's a bit of that - it's rad in Sun Wizard that we try to make jangly, clean pop cause I love all that stuff, ya know, Big Star and The Smiths...and then it's cool to get weird too and have an outlet for that. But Capitol 6 isn't just my side project, eveyone in the band is busy in other bands - Chains Of Love, Bummer High, Racoons. We're all sort approaching it like a side project in a way so I think it'll work out just fine.

Why are you described in your press release as “chain gangers”? What does that mean?

I think it refers to the rhythm of our songs. It kinda sounds like a chain gang doesn't it? I dunno, I didn't come up with it...

Is there an album in the offing? If so, what can we expect from it? Be as abstract as you like with your description...

Yeah for sure. We just finished a 7-inch and that's basically coming any time now. We're super stoked on it, it's way more of a band effort. And then, yeah, we just started recording for a full length. I'm stoked, everyone in the band has a few songs they brought to the band so it's different. We want it to be a bit all over the place, like a Velvet Underground album or something. We've got a sick recording setup right now so we're pumped. Oh ya, and we just found this Acetone organ in our back alley and it's minty so that's gonna be all over the new record - it sounds so good.

Seems like there’s a lot of good music coming out of Vancouver at the moment. Can you see a reason for that? Is there a ‘scene’ kind of feel about it?

Yeah, I agree, it's cool. I think most musicians will tell you that they're not really part of a scene, and it's true - my friends are in all kinds of different bands or doing whatever. Having said that, I work at a rad venue in town, so I get to know a lot of musicians and everyone's super friendly, so there's a good vibe going on here for sure and there are so many new bands that haven't even really left the city yet...

Any up-and-coming artists you’d like to recommend or give a shout out to?

Oh totally. Best band in town in my eyes are The Shilohs - they just finished recording their first album and it's a serious masterpiece. They're killing it. But yeah, like I say, there are lots of rad new bands in Vancouver - The High Drops, Slam Dunk, Two Towns, man, lots of others....

If we asked you right this moment to name your top three albums of all time, just off the top of your head, which would you pick?

Holy shit. Right now, how about Sticky Fingers by The Stones, Arthur by The Kinks (Rocksucker says: check out our in-depth review of the recent Arthur reissue here) and, just for you, SF Sorrow by The Pretty Things!

How very thoughtful of you! Malcolm, thank you. - Rocksucker


"SOUNDTRACKING: Q & A with Malcolm Jack, Singer-Songwriter of Sun Wizard and Capitol 6"

There appears to be a weird unspoken oath among Vancouver musicians to play in as many bands as possible. Hardly any musician in this city has just one band. Malcolm Jack is a local singer-songwriter who plays in not one but two bands – Sun Wizard and Capital 6 – which is actually quite a modest number of projects by Vancouver standards. Both bands have released great debut discs in the last year as well as hosted many a fine night of rock ‘n roll in various classy joints and hell hole dives across our fair city. What follows is an off-the-cuff but nevertheless penetrating interview with one the brightest lights in Vancouver’s music scene…

You’re in two full time bands right now – Sun Wizard and Capital 6. From a songwriter’s perspective, what do you bring to the table for each group? Is there a specifically different flavour that you try bring to each band? What is it that makes a song more appropriate for Capital 6 than Sun Wizard?

Well, in terms of writing a song, I don’t really think about which band I’m writing it for at the time. I just write on an acoustic guitar at home and record a quick demo of it, and then maybe based on the demo I can hear one band or the other playing it. It’s gotta have a bit of gloom to be a Capitol 6 tune – not really harshness, but some downer vibes maybe.

Sun Wizard just got back from a Western Canadian tour. How was the reception? How were the shows?

It was different everywhere really. It was our first time out, so obviously some places were better than others. Sled Island Festival in Calgary was great. We had fun shows in the most random places. Epic ones in Fort St. John and then mega dead ones in Winnipeg and stuff. You just never know…

What got played on the van stereo?

We had an epic drive from Kamloops to Whistler through Cache Creek over-night and had a crazy OK Computer moment that blew our minds.

Tell me about the two songs on the new Capital 6 7? – Fever and Henry’s Opus. It feels like a slight sea-change from the 10? – it’s a little more stripped back and has a bit more of a restrained, sombre vibe. Tell me about your intentions/sonic reference points going in to record those two songs.

When we recorded the EP, we weren’t even sure if we were a band yet! And I was totally itching to just go in, learn the songs really quickly and hit “record”, which is what we did and we were stoked so we kinda started actually jamming and working out more of a style. So the 7 inch is really more where we’re at right now as a band and we did go into that session with a sound in mind. The main reference is probably Pale Blue Eyes-style Velvet Underground songs for Fever; that was basically what we were going for. Henry’s Opus was a riff that Henry brought to the band, and we all sort of hashed that out together. I think we wanted that one to sound a little like ‘I Got The Blues’ by The Stones, with that big organ solo in the middle on the tremolo guitars.

What are some records getting played at your house as of late?

Been diggin the new Fresh & Onlys EP, Secret Walls, a lot. They’re kinda my favourite current band. New Crystal Stilts’ record a bit, White Fence’s Growing Faith; the new Shilohs record, So Wild; been jamming to The Shins first record, Oh Inverted World, a bunch recently for some reason.

Beatles vs. Stones – who comes out on top?

Man, I’m on a total Stones kick these days. Sticky Fingers baby; Keith’s my hero. The Beatles are probably better though! I dunno. I listen to a lot of Ram!

What’s on the horizon for Sun Wizard and Capital 6, recording-wise and show-wise?

New full lengths for both bands are on their way. With the Sun Wizard stuff we’ve been working with Steve Bays on some new recordings and we’re just gonna keep going with that. He’s killing it. I’m thinking that album will come out next Spring, but maybe we’ll release a 7 inch in the meantime? Show-wise, we’ve got some festivals to play this summer: Rock Of The Woods on the Island, Wapiti in Fernie and so on. I think Capitol 6 is gonna start recording in our garage in the next week or so. We did one new song there last month and it came out good. Just trying to keep the quantity over quality dream alive!

What’s your favourite Vancouver band, past or present?

Destroyer, hands down. Such a great catalogue of diverse song writing. This Night really gave me a lot of faith in ‘local’ music when it came out. It feels so deliberate. I was also a huge fan of The Christa Min. I totally miss that band.

What’s the best Kinks album?

I gotta say Arthur! So under-rated. Lyrically, it’s just so different than other records coming out at the time. I love tracks like Nothing To Say and Yes Sir No Sir. I love all their records from that era though. Everyone’s In Showbiz is super under-rated. That album’s got some killer tunes on it!

Tell me the difference between playing live and making a recording?

Well, I’m not much of a showman. It’s something I need to work on, - Scout Magazine


"Quick Hitters: Capitol 6"

Over the last few months, you’ve seen a few dedications of love to Vancouver’s Louise Burns and the sun & bbq- fueled retro rockers, Sun Wizard. Imagine if we lived in some alternate universe where both bands merged into one. You’d have to assume the results would be pretty spectacular. Right?

Well, it seems Capitol 6, a new band out of Vancouver, is just that. Thanks to the familiar vocals of Malcolm Jack, the band sounds like a looser, more hazy Sun Wizard but without question their initial efforts feel completely collaborative.

They can fire off a ramshackle back yard anthem (“Captain Rehab”) and you can almost smell the charcoal filling the air, but the quintet explores fuzzed out textures (“At Yer Fingers”) and delightful tambourine back beat (“I Sure Can Pretend”) that Louise introduced to help make her “girl-group” pop transcend the expectations of the genre. Throw in the classic rock meets grimy club vocals feel of “Too Little Too Long” and the slowed down closer, “The World Goes By So Slow” and you see the potential this band has out of the gate. They offer up two styles you couldn’t expect to go together so well that fit together nicely and make this EP a summer treat you need to pick up.

Capitol 6's debut 10'' – Captain Rehab – is due out on Light Organ in May, and to be honest I have no idea how a band built from the core of two National touring bands (each touring a new record) can exist in any sort of long term plan, but I’m glad they do, even if it’s just for an occasional studio treat you can add to your collection. - http://www.herohill.com/


"Capitol 6 - Captain Rehab"

For weekends there is a download from Canada. The sextet Capitol 6 from Vancouver has now released their debut EP "Captain Rehab," with its theme song they bestow us.

"Captain Rehab" is a cheery pop song with playful guitar solos, scheduled follow-up and the obligatory feel-good tambourine. But behind the optimistic facade lies a very dark text: " Calling Captain Rehab / I'm sick of waking up every morning on the floor / Calling Captain Rehab / I do not want you but I need you that's for sure . "

Guitarist Malcolm Jack explains the origin of the song as follows:. "'Captain Rehab' is one of those funny songs, where one of the tracks can think of first, the term came to me sat down unexpectedly and I thought he was really funny how I got myself then. a song about an imaginary friend, who is so written and the song came to me almost by itself I have it on the first attempt to play through once completely improvised and also the text on the spot and I thought to myself. 'Ok, well that's it! ' It's really fun to write text to a dark and hide it behind a cheerful tune. " - Rolling Stone - Germany


Discography

Capitol 6 - Fever/Henry's Opus 7" - August 09, 2011
Capitol 6 - Captain Rehab EP - May 03, 2011
Capitol 6 - Pretty Lost EP - May 15, 2012

All recordings released under Light Organ Records.

Photos

Bio

Capitol 6 are a psych-pop band from Vancouver BC. They formed in 2011 as a recording project for singer Malcolm Jack but quickly evolved into a five-piece rock n roll group, releasing the Captain Rehab EP and the Fever 7" single on Light Organ, as well as a cassette EP on Green Burrito in their first year. Their debut LP, Pretty Lost, was recorded in early 2012 with Felix Fung (Chains Of Love / Dead Ghosts) and mixed with Colin Stewart (Black Mountain / Sleepy Sun). It shows the band moving away from their scrappy beginnings into jangly garage-pop, following in the footsteps of contemporary paisley-punks like The Growlers, Fresh & Onlys or Crystal Stilts.