Cap'n Jazz

Since 1989 · United States

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Analphabetapolothology (1998)

Analphabetapolothology gathers Cap'n Jazz's scattered, hard-to-find singles and unreleased material into the record most people actually know the band by, years after the band itself had broken up. "Little League" captures the band at its most manic and most melodic simultaneously, Tim Kinsella's yelped vocals riding over guitar lines from Victor Villarreal and Sam Zurick that veer between chaos and genuine hook. The compilation format means the whole thing feels less like a planned statement than a document of a band that could barely contain itself. It's since become recognized as one of the direct sources of the midwest-emo sound its own alumni went on to refine.

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Cap'n Jazz

Analphabetapolothology · 1998

Cap'n Jazz formed in the Chicago suburbs in 1989, an all-ages fixture of the local hardcore and emo scene built around the chaotic, yelped vocals of Tim Kinsella and the interplay of guitarists Victor Villarreal and Sam Zurick, with Tim's younger brother Mike Kinsella on drums. Their live shows were famously unpredictable, veering between genuine hardcore aggression and moments of near-collapse, and the band broke up in 1995 having released relatively little material during its actual existence.

Analphabetapolothology (1998), a posthumous compilation gathering the band's scattered singles, EPs, and unreleased material, became the record through which most listeners actually discovered Cap'n Jazz, arriving years after the band itself had ended and just as its former members' subsequent projects — Mike Kinsella's American Football, Tim Kinsella's Joan of Arc, Davey von Bohlen's Promise Ring — were reaching wider audiences. Retroactively, Cap'n Jazz's manic, melodic chaos is now credited as one of the direct sources of the midwest-emo sound that its alumni would go on to refine.