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Captain Wilberforce – Dreams of Educated Fleas

With a name like Captain Wilberforce I half expected the kind of bigoted tweedy ex-serviceman who writes letters to the Daily Mail to complain about the influx of illegal immigrants in Esher. As the opening track developed I was sorely tempted to write to the Mail myself to complain about the number of young people these days that insist on singing like Thom Yorke.
Vocals aside, the first couple of numbers built up nicely, with shimmering guitar and washes of keyboards and vocal harmonies reminiscent of British Sea Power’s subtler moments. Then, as “Making Apple Juice From Oranges” began, I had to get up to check that I wasn’t actually listening Radiohead by mistake. The riff sounds instantly familiar, but the song is so bloody infectious, that my initial reservations were soon forgiven (although this was slightly marred when the damn thing was still on a loop in my head at 3am).
“Dark Clouds, takes a slight change in direction, slowing the tempo a little and coming on like Grandaddy performing Sergeant Pepper era Beatles, with the following “Born Again New Man” mixing a T-Rex glam stomp with Roobarb and Custard style effects.
The closing track, “Excuses,” concludes matters nicely with a low-fi doodle backed with minimal acoustic guitar and accordion, and the sound of a lapping tide. Very nice, in a Badly Drawn Boy sort of way.
All in all, while some of the more obvious similarities suggest Captain Wilberforce have not quite managed to make the break from their influences and define their own identity, the quality of the song writing is generally pretty high, and there is enough individuality here to recommend a listen.

Leighton Cooksey