AMG Review of Euridice Proudhon

Tim Sendra
All Music Guide

Those who like to leap to conclusions should have a field day with the Capstan Shafts. See if you can see where this is heading. Twenty-two songs all under two minutes long, many under a minute. Song titles so obscure you need a dictionary to decipher them ("Carbon Neutral Enterprise," "61 Sideburns," "Good Riddance, Euridice," just to name some classics). A frontman with a tendency to lapse into a near British accent. Okay, Guided by Voices junior, right? Well, kind of, but nothing like that at all. Sure, Dean Wells, the one man in this one-man band, shares much with GBV, but what sets him apart is the clarity of his vision. His songs aren't half-finished sounding; they are pinpoint sharp and tightly constructed indie pop nuggets. The melodies are pure and true; the sound of the record is, too, with brightly strummed acoustic guitars, clanking electrics, sometimes shaky (but always there when you need them) drums, and the occasional tambourine combining with Wells' note-perfect vocals (complete with double-tracked sunshiny harmonies) to make bedroom magic. Though they flit across the screen like butterflies, each song makes an impression thanks to Wells' knack for intriguing lyrics and his sharp melodic gift. When the record ends, you might just leave it in for another spin; it's that good. At the very least you'll want to hear "Sleepcure Theory Advancer" again. If the Capstan Shafts had been around in the early '90s singing this amazingly hooky song about lab coats and angel wings (you can almost picture the video), they might be a band with movies and books celebrating their career. Stay tuned in about 15 years, see if it happens. You never know.