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The Dust Devil has been lagging, I know. Check out The Captives!

June 23rd, 2008 Posted by: Dust Devil

Hey guys,

Yeah, I haven’t been here in a month, busy as heck. However, things continue to roll, there have been a couple of good shows we still need to discuss, but first, let’s focus on this weekend.

Local faves The Captives are playing this weekend, Saturday, June 28, at the Hollywood Alley. Now, I’ve talked up Hollywood Alley before, so if I need to go into that again you need some work on your reading comprehension.

The Captives are a local (Arizona) Dreampop/Britpop band comprised of Eddie Lebario on guitars, Tom Laman on vocals, Robert Lerma on the drums and Steve Flores on bass. Eddie was in a very cool band before by the name of Echo Chamber. He and Tom met when Echo Chamber was in the midst of a period of inactivity. Steve joined the mix in 2003. Robert (Bobby) and Eddie have been friends for years. He has been in a number of bands, all with very different styles. Not many guys on the skins can state they have played punk rock (Kluged and Grant & the Geezers), garage (The Tellers) and indie pop (40 Watt Las Vegas). One of the bands he played in, The Voice, was named one of the Top 100 Arizona Bands of the Millineum by the Republic back in 2000.

I have seen these guys a number of times over the years and as Robert knows since I have told him this, I had a casual liking for them, but nothing overwhelming. My interpretation had always been “I’ve heard this before” and I wasn’t interested in another band that reminded me so much of The Smiths.

Well folks, even the Dust Devil is wrong sometimes. I couldn’t stand Catherine Wheel and the Stiff Little Fingers when I first heard them, but came to realize down the road the greatness I was missing out on. Such is the case with The Captives.

The most compelling change, at least for me, has been the progress in Tom’s vocal’s. He has developed his own delivery style and stage presence. I felt in the past I saw too much Morrissey on stage. When their latest disc, Dreams In Stars came out and the band played a release party, I was really impressed with the change. He has established his own identity, all the while maintaining his intense love of the moment and desire to express that onstage. The vocals are no longer overstated. Today they blend in very well with the cascade of sound going on at the same time.

The new disc is a marked improvement over their 2001 debut In the Cobalt Twilight. The Smiths influence is still there, but personally I enjoyed the more definite shoegazer influence. I LOVE guitars that shimmer, and Eddie’s guitar work does exactly that. The guitars bring back memories of a great Britpop band by the name of Kitchens of Distinction. Steve plays a smooth bass and keeps things moving along a fluid pace. I am biased, but Robert really is one of the best drummers around. He and Steve comprise a great rhythm section. Bobby can play as hard and powerful as anyone I have ever seen, but displays a quite elegance in his playing with The Captives.

GO SEE THESE GUYS! Folks, good local music is scarce in the Valley of the Sun nowadays. These guys are the real deal and this disc could push them into the mainstream. It should, but of course that depends if the general public get it together in regards to what is good music. Go to Stinkweeds or your other favorite independent record store and get Dreams In Stars today, you will not be disappointed. More important, make plans for this Saturday to be at Hollywood Alley at 8:00pm. It’s a $5.00 cover, how could you possibly go wrong?

I promise, more to come this week! Look for a Peter Murphy review, Monolith Festival news and news on U2 reissues.

Cheers,

The Dust Devil

The Captives website http://www.thecaptives.net/
The Captives Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/thecaptives

Filed under: Concert Tour Announcements, My Take