capstanshafts9

new Capstan Shafts (MP3 from Revelation Skirts - out soon)

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Capstan Shafts – Quiet Wars (MP3)

Capstan Shafts @ Kung Fu Saloon, Austin TX in March
Capstan Shafts

Since his first live show in 2007, Vermont songwriter Dean Wells (now a West Virginia resident) has been slowly expanding the Capstan Shafts, his bedroom-pop project that’s prolifically released lo-fi albums since 1999.

Live, Wells now sings with support from a four-piece band, and they perform fairly frequently between Washington DC and New York (where they played a June show at Crash Mansion). They currently have shows set for DC and Baltimore, with plans to hit NYC for CMJ in October.

The live transition is reflected on their forthcoming CD, Revelation Skirts, due August 24th on Rainbow Quartz. On it, Wells collaborates with writer/producer/musician Matt LeMay (of Get Him Eat Him and Pitchfork, where he was a vocal Capstan fan) to mint a fuller studio sound. The first track from that album, “Quiet Wars,” is posted above. The song, which first showed up on 2007’s Dreamilys Throttled Revolts, mirrors the project’s bedroom-to-studio evolution with a brief sonically-compressed intro before the crisp full band enters. Wells’s acoustic, tape-deck-recorded albums have always drawn comparisons to Guided By Voices or Mountain Goats; cleaned up, the hooks come to the forefront for a sound closer to New Pornographers’ smartly composed pop.

More info on the record and all tour dates are below…


(via)
Capstan Shafts
‘Revelation Skirts’ tracklist
1. Fairweather Triumphalist
2. Let Your Head Get Wrong
3. Little Burst of Sunshine
4. Versus the Sad Cold Eventually
5. Class War Tease
6. Heart Your Eat Out
7. Successfully Into You
8. From Revelation Skirts
9. Quiet Wars
10. Your Wasted Is a Talent Here
11. Cruel Streak Andes
12. Versus the World Hater
13. Miss Stelliferous
14. Great Reset Button of Life

‘Revelation Skirts’ credits
Dean Wells – vocals, guitar
Matt LeMay – drums, bass, guitar, organ
All songs by Dean Wells
Produced by Matt LeMay
Drums, bass, guitars recorded by Marc Alan Goodman at Strange Weather
Vocals, organ, additional guitars recorded by Matt LeMay at A Question of Frequency
Mixed by Matt LeMay at A Question of Frequency
Mastered by Alex Saltz at APS Mastering


The Capstan Shafts – 2010 Tour Dates
Aug 25 Sidebar Tavern Baltimore, MD
Sep 01 DC9 Washington, DC
Oct 23 TBA CMJ New York, NY