Finding information about The Capstan Shafts on the internet is, well, downright challenging. We know this: The Capstan Shafts is the moniker under which Dean Wells records and releases his music. He hails from Lyndonville, Vermont and has performed live just a handful of times. Insanely prolific, Wells has released somewhere around 24 EPs and full-lengths since 2004, sometimes on his own Ladder The Xmas Monkey label, other times on various tiny indie labels. His tunes are notoriously short in length – often clocking in at under a minute, rarely over two, and his lo-fi approach has earned him countless comparisons to Robert Pollard, John Darnielle and Jeff Mangum.
Now we’ve got that out of the way, what about the music? The Capstan Shafts are about as lo-fi as lo-fi can get; Wells records on a 4-track, utilizes plenty of fuzzy guitar and mixes on the loud side. The beauty of The Capstan Shafts, and the aspect that most sets Well apart from other lo-fi-acoustic outfits, is that he deftly manages to create a full band illusion out of his one man band. With Fixation Protocol‘s 22 well-constructed, catchy tunes it’s no simple feat to choose highlights, but I’d say that ‘Eyeliner Skywriting, etc.’ was the first track to leap out at me. It’s a minute and 22 seconds of jangly guitar, bouncy melody, tasty hooks and Wells’ warm tenor crooning “but I liked you/and you liked me/and the clouds joined in to say/it’s your eyeliner skywriting poem almost nobody gets”.
‘Her Novel ‘Canal Zone Poetry” is the consummate garage pop song, and ‘Get Honest’ finds Wells drawing from the punkier section of his repertoire. ‘A Heart That Never Flies’ is rather folksy; Wells layers his voice to create a sing-along feel. ‘Behemoth To A Flame’ is a wry love song crafted around a simple piano melody and Wells’ witty lyrics: “under a dying sun/are you dying with anyone/cause I would die with you/so please don’t ask me to”. You’d think that with 22 tracks, Fixation Protocols would be a hit-and-miss affair, but surprisingly, each of the 22 songs are very nearly equally good. It’s an album packed with hooks, melodies, and clever lyrics, but be warned: with songs as short as these, they end abruptly and may leave you wanting more. Simply stated, if you have a short attention span and happen to love well-constructed lo-fi indie pop, give The Capstan Shafts a listen right away.
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Other albums by this artist
I have Her Vs. The Sad Cold Eventually, and think it’s darn good. He seems to be very consistent quality wise
I’ve read that he’s very consistently good. I tracked down some more of his stuff on archive.org and emusic and plan to give it a go.
I discovered the Capstan Shafts about a year ago and now have just about everything released under the name – though I’m still waiting for Fixation Protocols to arrive in the mail. Grrrrr.
I can only gush like a lovesick teenager about how much I love this stuff! Anybody with even the slightest interest in music with a melody should be amazed by how good the Shafts are. And no pointless rhyming couplets either (looking sternly at you, Malkmus). Mr Wells writes a worthwhile and interesting lyric though it can be a challenge trying to decipher them through the fuzz.
And without doubt ‘Sleepcure Theory Advancer’ (from 2006′s Euridice Proudhon) is one of the greatest pop songs of all time.
Praise be!
The Capstan Shafts are now touring the east coast as a 5 piece! If you like the sound on CD, you should hear them live! WOW!