Capsula

By David Fricke

Here is garage-glam heaven on a platter: Tony Visconti, who produced hot glitter for David Bowie and T. Rex 40-plus years ago, doing it again with the fine trio Capsula, from Bilbao, Spain. Visconti sets Capsula's dynamic compression of the Who, the Cramps and Sonic Youth in a high tide of psychedelia (long echo, watery tremolo, massed spires of treble guitar) that makes "Riverside of Love" and "Trails of Senselessness" sound like a fresh afterburn of the '67 Pretty Things and an acid-charged X. "You gotta be free," guitarist Martin Guevara and bassist Coni Duchess, Capsula's founding couple, sing in "Blind." They're already flying. - Rolling Stone

"For 'Blind,' we fell in love with Motown rhythms meeting dark sounds and psychedelic guitar riffs all over again and again with tons of reverb and tape echo," Capsula's Coni Duchess tells Rolling Stone. "We recorded the vocals together thinking of a nightmare coming from The Vandelles. It's a sad love story."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/blind-by-capsula-free-mp3-20130819#ixzz3lSOiQTEt
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook - Rolling Stone

It was only 9 p.m. on opening night when I hit my first pay dirt of this year’s SXSW in Austin: Capsula a kinetic trio from Bilbao, Spain — singer-guitarist Martin Guevara and bassist Coni Duchess, the band’s founding couple, are originally from Argentina — who were supposed to be obsessed with the Velvet Underground (according to a newspaper preview) but were actually a high-velocity union of the Cramps and the Who, coated in corroded glam. Guevara attacked his guitar with a serious case of Pete Townshend, and drummer Alberto Diez was an improbable mix of Keith Moon and the Velvets’ Maureen Tucker: flash with heartbeat. In the last song of the set, a furious space-out that sounded like the Who doing Pink Floyd’s “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” Guevara swallowed his mike Lux Interior-style and scraped his guitar strings along the edge of the stage. You don’t get those visuals with Capsula’s new album, Rising Mountains (BCore), but you get the idea — and everything I heard.



http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/13/frickes-picks-spanish-electricity-at-sxsw/ - Rolling Stone (USA). April 2009

*****

If one were to create a mathematical formula for the level of a band's awesomeness, it would need to include factors such as: “Amount Of Guitar Noise,” “Exoticness Of Members,” and “Ratio Of Punk Influence To ‘70s Rock Influence.” Run Capsula's numbers, and the result is: Highly Awesome. An analysis of these results reveals: Extremely High Potential To Blow You Away.

“Amount Of Guitar Noise” equals motherloads — “Wild C” is replete with the roaring of motorcycles, and “The Sea Cave” drives drunkenly along a dirt road. “Exoticness Of Members” equates to plenty. Founding members Martin Guevara and Coni Duchess live in Bilbao, Spain, but are originally from Buenos Aires.

“Ratio Of Punk Influence To ‘70s Rock Influence” is one-to-one. Duchess' vocals on “Fighting With Tigers” is full-on riot grrrl, while the acoustic guitars are psychedelic. Factor in her “Huh!” at the beginning of “Girl! Whip Up the Sound” and the increasing catchiness of Rising Mountains on each subsequent listen, and it's clear: Capsula will rock not just your world but more than likely, the whole world.

By Annie Holub
May 18th, 2009


https://venuszine.com/articles/music/sounds/5821/Capsula - Venus Zine (Chicago)

Other than selected single tracks here and there from long-dead sixties bands I don’t reckon I’ve heard much by Argentinian rock groups. For what is I think therefore justifiably classifiable as a first this, the second album from Capsula (late of Buenos Aires, now waiting to conquer the world from Bilbao), succeeded in grabbing my attention right from the start.

Singing in English the three-piece (two guys and a girl) have a great sound that features elements of The Mono-Men (’Found And Lost’), Monster Magnet (’Wild C’, criminally too short) and Sonic Youth in Krautrock mode (’Magnetic Brain’).

The main fact is they’re one of those great bands that sound like all their influences at virtually the same time and yet concoct a sound all of their own from out of that sonic soup, totally contradicting song number nine ‘Original Is Dead’ in the process.

Fourteen cuts grace this release and the pace doesn’t let up except on the garage blues of ‘The Sea Cave’ but the guitar solo therein more than compensates by keeping the listener keyed-up for the delights that follow in the second half of the album. Yet another great Hispanic musical contribution to this summer’s soundtrack from BCore records.


Capsula – Rising Mountains
By Kenny McMurtrie • Jun 2nd, 2009 • Category: Album, Reviews

http://musosguide.com/capsula-%E2%80%93-rising-mountains/4613 - Muso's Guide (US)

10/10

Si j’ai toujours aimé Bilbao, c’est pour son intransigeance. Ville campée sur ses traditions et vers le futur, son architecture peut en témoigner, Bilbao est une citadelle imprenable, en témoigne l’Athletico qui n’engage que des joueurs Basques, au mépris des escalades dans ce domaine footballistique. Capsula est à l’image de cette position. Déjà découvert ici via un premier album détonnant, le trio, venant de Bilbao et d’Argentine, nous revient avec un disque qui est plus qu’une escalade initiatique vers un graal spirituel. « Rising Mountains » est d’abord un disque de rock, un vrai, dans la pure tradition guitare basse batterie. De cette tradition le trio a gardé un esprit de rébellion, un savant mélange de pulsion et de réponse à un système défini, et corolaire infecte de nos vies. Certainement trop à l’étroit, le trio y a injecté une senteur presque sixties sur certains titres, comme si Blondie rencontrait le Sonic Youth de Dirty. Jamais sur la défensive, jamais dans le brouillon, dégage une fierté étonnante, surtout quand il s’agit de chanter un « Wild C » détonnant. Remplis de surprises, ce disque parvient à ne pas tomber dans la routine. Totalement ouvert, Capsula réussi même la prouesse de mêler le temps d’un titre Kraftwerk et Joy Division, avec une division réduite, mais un résultat sublime (Magnetic Brain). Confirmation de notre première rencontre, ce « Rising Mountains » devrait installer une relation sur le long terme, faite d’explosivité et de fierté mérité. Le rock se dessine une nouvelle Mecque au sommet d’une montagne, un lieu de joie et de fierté mêlés. Enorme (bis)

rédigé par Gérald de Oliveira - ADECOUVRIRABSOLUMENT (France)

http://kexp.org/programming/charts.asp?chart=1&chartMonth=07&chartYear=2009 - KEXP Chart

'Capsula sounded alternately like straight-up scuzzy garage punk and like Death Valley 69-era Sonic Youth... Pretty good!' - Pitchfork

Leave it to three Argentinians living in Spain to show all of SXSW how to rock! While their blend of garage rock, blues, and proto-punk made for one of the finest albums of last year, Capsula must be heard (and seen) live to be fully appreciated. Guitarist and vocalist Martin Guevara simultaneously channels Iggy, Stiv, and Lux as he throws around his guitar, swallows his mic, and screams bloody murder. Coni Duchess meanwhile, like a Latina Kim Gordon, shakes and thumps the bass with equal parts power and seduction. And Drummer Ignacio Villarejo hammers the kit to oblivion while he propels the group through one scuzzy riff-laden jam after another. Check out these videos to get just a sense of Capsula’s live raw power: - KEXP

My favorite bands so far: Capsula, co-ed trio that raises a rollercoaster din fusing acid-rock with punk brio (SXSW 2010)
Greg Kot. Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune