Dan Carney: Guitar, voice
Neil Kleiner: Instruments, voice
Giles Littleford: Guitar, voice
Chin Of Britain: Drums
Laura Copsey: Flugelhorn
Mike Cranny: Bass
'There are countless acts out there weaving folk tinged melodies and circling acoustic guitars with electronic chimes and beats but you'll have to go a long way to hear it done with this level of emotion and originality or with such delicate vocal harmonies'. MixMag
'Underneath the menace of the bleak (but very tuneful) acoustic guitar/laptop/trumpet battles lurks Dan Carney's occasionally weary tales of quite but definite personal hysteria, all told in a sweet estuary twang...a charming record and one liable to sting you if you're not paying attention'. The Fly Magazine
'A sweetness infuses every song as the vocal harmonies blend over the crisp, acoustic=electric arrangements' Plan B
' ...boasting tuneful acoustic guitar melodies and subtle yet effective trademarked wisping vocals...when you play this CD you often forget it;s actually on but when it finishes one feels slightly alone and you have to put it on again..' Clash Magazine (DCLC album of the month 10/08)
'Like a rustic Air adrift in a haze of woozy acoustica, DCLC's debut washes over the listener, the Wicker Man-style soundscapes smothered by multilayered harmonies that sigh with vague unease' Q Magazine
'Nu-folk wannabes are clogging up our arteries at the moment but you can't switch off and miss a gem like this. DCLC specialise in acidy, harmony-drenched acoustics. Lilting like Simon & Garfunkel over ominous guitar picks and swooning strings, it's a delicious face-off between dark and light. If an album's worth of psych-pop-folk meandering sounds too much, just listen to Questions... and beg for more later'. Teletext
Dark Captain Light Captain - Jealous Enemies/Mid-Session Interval 7" (Lo Alternative Frequencies)
Beats, acoustic guitars and angelic harmonies: people love to call it "folktronica" when these things get mixed together, but that sounds kind of stupid. Though it's thoroughly modern, "Jealous Enemies" is every bit as good as its folk-rock ancestors—songs by Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span—that once had the audacity to combine pastoral melody with pop tempos. You could group them with contemporaries like Tunng or The Memory Band, but you'll be listening to these dudes twice as often.
Delovely 2-tracker from DCLC: two pastoral, finger-picked, richly-harmonized affairs that are reminiscent of Tunng, State River Widening, & c., but from a straight-up rock verse-chorus songwriting type-perspective. While the lyrics are standard issue vague 'n' melancholy, there's something disarming and appealing in them being delivered in an unpretentious East London accent.
The latest 7" on Lo:AF comes from Dark Captain Light Captain with some bittersweet, tender avant folk. 'Jealous Enemies' has gentle vocal harmonies and the whole feel is delicate, whispered, and fairytale like. The acoustic guitar is heartwarming, gentle and breezy. Like Tunng crossed with the Beta Band possibly. Flipside 'Mid-Session Interval' is similarly fragile. The vocals sound like they're hanging on for dear life. It's a somber, mournful piece complete with twinkley keys and a sparkling sense of innocence.
Dark Captain Light Captain made their recording debut as collaborators on Milenasong's Seven Sisters album. This debut single gives strong indications that they've plenty to offer the great listening public in their own right, 'Jealous Enemies' is probably the sort of thing that would get them lumped into the same sort of folkish bracket as someone like Tunng, but that would be a mistake: they are far more interesting than any of those nu-folk tags might suggest, gravitating around a guitar riff you could imagine Radiohead cobbling together for a B-side, and even sounding a bit like Elliott Smith in its presentation. On the flipside 'Mid-Session Interval' lacks the immediacy of its partner, but still has plenty of plus points, including a bit of subtle electronic intervention and Rhodes melodies. Lovely.
There’s something immediately likeable about Dark Captain Light Captain. They manage to sound fresh and exciting while remaining strangely familiar, to retain the rough-edged quality of a DIY recording while sounding more than competently produced and, all-in-all, win us over with a minimum of effort and a quiet, lackadaisical confidence.
Track ‘Spontaneous Combustion Pact’ showcases their talents brilliantly; a chilled out, sleepy track that rides along on a rolling beat that sounds like it’s knocked out on the lid of an old wooden chest and a kitchen’s worth of pots and pans. Gradually, the track emerges from its own smoke-fuelled haze into a brilliant crescendo of old keyboards, xylophones and plucked acoustic guitars, accompanied along the way by a paranoid, doubled-up vocal that urges us to turn our ‘x-ray eyes into a visor and turn this whole thing around’.
Elsewhere, the beautiful ‘Mid-session Interval’ proves the ‘Captains’ don’t need a beat to create a thoroughly engaging track, building instead on a brilliant pairing of chiming acoustic guitars, a well-placed chord change and exquisite vocal harmonies. ‘They Be Underwater’ continues the foot-tapping rhythms, this time with a soft metronomic beat that underpins more plucked guitars and whispered vocals while ‘Everybody’s Opening…’ sounds for a moment like it borrows the vocal talents of Damon Albarn. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a fan. We certainly are.
In an increasing world of electro beats and synthesizers Dark Captain Light Captain offer a depth and substance beyond the label of their clothes or brightness of their jeans and trainers.Other things people have said:
"Dark Captain Light Captain are an unsung testament to the power of restraint, the meaning of minimalism, the hypnotic power of clacks and thrums... Tunng, lovely as they are, are not the heroes of folk culture that everyone seems to think. There are as many interesting things going on with Dark Captain Light Captain to warrant that level of attention. In a way, you owe them. So go listen!"
"... an undercurrent of mystery and an idea of late night idea scribbling and quietly strumming while the world is sleeping nearby, perhaps even just through the walls and not to be woken."
dan, thank you for your sweet message and for coming ! it was a real joy to play to such a kind + amazing audience :) it would be our pleasure to play together anytime. best of luck with the recordings and hope to see you in no time :) x x x
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