LOS CAPITANES - BIOGRAPHY!
 Could you leave me with a ska….
 ...croons Los Capitanes front man Tim Kent at 2007’s Come Together
 Festival, wearing a torn t-shirt thrown up on by a female fan, and balancing
 somewhat gracefully on the shoulders of an older, hairier man. Since then the
 band has been immersed in a whirlwind of gigging, recording, and overseas
 travels. But finally, they have returned.
 Los Capitanes is a controversial and turbulent new age love story, like that of
 Sid and Nancy, Kurt and Courtney or Bert and Ernie. Kent describes the band
 as ‘a sexless marriage, except with heaps of sex’, essentially the sonic equivalent
 of the best, loudest, most irresponsible and enthusiastic sex you could imagine.
 By no means a small band, Los Capitanes comprises Jesse Sewell (drums),
 Dave Rodriguez (electric guitar), Rob Lee (trombone), Kieran Smits (bass),
 Julian Barker (trumpet) and Tim Kent (vocals). Simple math shows the size of
 the band is equal to the size of the sound, so non natives hardly need to stretch
 their imagination to know the band is heard all over the quiet streets of sedate ol‘
 Canberra. But thanks to the magic of the interwebs, that sound has been begun
 to spread even further…
 For years Canberra’s entertainment staples have been porn, pot, prostitution and
 politics. Sadly, the four P’s have lost their shine and simply aren’t enough to
 engage anyone who hopes for something genuinely interesting, different and
 unapologetically fun. Insert Los Capitanes - the national stimulus of the nonrecession
 kind.
 As is the case of all good love affairs, the boys from Los Cap started off openly
 hating each other. But high school politics aside, the group soon discovered they
 had a few pretty essential things in common, namely their natural talent of self
 deprecation, a mutual love of sarcasm and of course a love of great music. This
 went on to fuel each of their innate, individual mandates to have a good time in
 spite of, or perhaps because of all consequences. Realising this, it wasn’t long
 before the thin veil between hate and love disintegrated, and these six individuals
 became one.
 Like most ska bands, Los Capitanes wish to avoid being called ‘ska’ like they
 wish to avoid being punched in the face by Mike Tyson; not because they don’t
 like ska (or Mike Tyson), but because most other people in the world don’t. All
 jokes aside, Los Cap strive to bring something new to their music and their
 performance that can’t be boxed in to genre clichés or scene stereotypes. At the
 end of the day Los Cap simply play the music they enjoy; sometimes it’s reggae,
 sometimes it’s punk and sometimes it’s balls to the wall two-tone ska. ‘But I
 guess that’s what we love about being a ‘ska band’, it’s really just an excuse to
 play whatever the fuck we want.’
 Whether you prefer to call it versatility or shameful inconsistency, it’s an attitude
 and a sound that over the years has seen Los Cap play with some pretty diverse
 and incredible bands including Parkway Drive, Koolism, Gyroscope, The
 Living End, Fireballs, Carpathian, The Whitlams, The Hilltop Hoods,
 Against Me! Regurgitator, The Porkers and little outfit from the UK called The
 Specials.
 Live, Los Cap have been known to both thrill and disgust, meaning
 those who witness a Los Cap show very seldom forget it. Their consistently huge
 effort to ‘lose their shit’ on stage can and has been interpreted by some more
 sensitive souls as plain rude – particularly their punk rock rendition of Missy
 Higgins’ ‘Scar’ – but really, it’s just the band immersing themselves in the
 music, performance and theatrics of it all. ‘It’s really only one facet of our
 personality, we’re not belligerent dickheads all of the time. Offstage, we’re
 actually quite shy and socially retarded.’
 Los Cap’s debut LP ‘No Fun Intended’ was released in 2007, and received a
 darn good reception (particularly their single ‘Scene Queen’) but it’s their
 upcoming album ‘Rest For The Wicked’ that the band are most proud of; a
 genuine showcase of what sounds can sound like. Recorded by Lachlan Mitchell
 (of black metal outfit Nazxul, who has also produced The Jezebels) in the dark
 depths of a nameless studio somewhere in Sydney, the album has taken almost
 two years and a many an in-fight to finish. But just like make-up sex always
 makes an argument worth the pain, the end result for Los Caps is an album that
 they consider as close to perfection as they dare to tread. Musically, ‘Rest For
 The Wicked’ picks up where the old album left off, but betters it. Everything is a
 little more extreme; the slow stuff is slower and the fast stuff is faster, but that’s
 just how Los Cap likes it.
 This October, Los Cap release the first single off ‘Rest For The Wicked’ called
 ‘you (feat. me)’. This infectious little tune explores the highs and lows of an
 extremely addictive relationship. It’s a song about dependency, about how easy
 it is to become addicted to socially acceptable drugs like dexamphetamine and
 also to people. It’s about how these pharmaceuticals have become a necessity
 for a generation on medication. If all of this is sounding a little heavy, fear not!
 ‘you (feat’ me)’ also flaunts some very smooth grooves, a tasty horn section
 and guest vocals from the lovely Charlotte McKay that should keep you from
 topping yourself. Just.
 !
 http://www.myspace.com/loscapitanes
 SINGLE: you (feat. me) serviced to radio early October
 ALBUM: ‘Rest For The Wicked’ in stores November
Courtesy of: http://www.myspace.com/reckoningentertainment