Hey Pizza! Records, 24 September 2021
Capgun Heroes write powerful and catchy stuff. They’re the bees knees.
Capgun Heroes caught my attention a bit when they dropped Who The Fuck Are These Dorks?! back in 2020. Since, they played a fun short set for the Mom’s Basement/Dummy Room XMAS Show and teased us with the “That Girl” single leading up to this, their first full length. Last Call for Adderall is a good show, playing around with power like a sort of less-sinister version of Hey Pizza! labelmates Zoanoids.
Capgun Heroes really deep dive into pop hooks that have only been hinted at on previous releases. Songs like “Won’t Do You Wrong”, a simple pop song with some wide-eyed sweet lyrics, and “That Girl”, which bounces along to pounding quick drums and goes soaring on a chorus that drops in cool “whoa-oh” backing vocals, will stick in your brain long after they end. Others, like the “go” songs (“Let You Go” and “Wanna Go”) are catchy as can be. “Let You Go” is just a good and catchy mid-tempo pop song and “Wanna Go” has undeniable vocal hooks that reminds me a bunch of Teenage Bottlerocket. And the charming “Waiting” is pop gold, complete with a mid-tempo bounce and a sneaky earworm lead guitar and the “I’ve been waiting a long time for the chance to be with you” vocal hook won’t go away. Once in a while, Capgun Heroes throws a curveball into the mix, too. “Stuck With You” is a catchy enough song, but the real winner on the song are the drum fills. They feel all off and weird and wrong in a way that ends up memorable and fun. Falling off the rails? Almost, but it feels so good.
That said, the band also does some energetic punk blasts, heavy on speed and power and a bit reminiscent of The Lillingtons, even taking on spies and sci-fi concepts along the way. Last Call opens with “Back It Up”, complete with hooks and a high-energy blast. Later, songs like “Operation Chaos” channel Backchannel Broadcast with some chug and CIA references. “Tonight” is a paranoid ripper with monsters and demons and all sorts of lurking and the energy is palpable. The “tonigh-ight” part of the chorus sticks around quite well, too. Extra credit to the bass playing on this one, which adds some flavor and really hits right throughout. And “Lobotomy” is maybe the fastest song on here. The menacing guitars sound ragged and cutting in a new way and the song beats up your ears pretty good. And when they sing the “you took that part of me” line, I can’t help but enjoy it.
Last Call for Adderall is the real deal. The record’s subtle shifts back and forth between pop and punk keeps me engaged and I find myself continuing to come back for more. These songs are oh so good.
Favorite song: “Wanna Go”, probably
Favorite moment: the off-kilter drum fills on “Stuck With You” are bonkers cool
Favorite whatever else: the simple sweetness of “Won’t Do You Wrong” is an endearing good time; great reminder that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel if the song is just plain good
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
