Under Review

Capitol 6 & B-Lines

Singles Club 7”s   (Kingfisher Bluez)

by Tristan Koster

Over the past eight months, the Kingfisher Bluez Recording Company has been releasing a delightful string of singles highlighting Vancouver’s D.I.Y. musical lifestyle. Just about everything they put out is a treasure; run by Tim Clapp a.k.a Tim the Mute, it’s one of those impossible dream projects that’s dedicated itself to releasing the weird, the experimental, the warm and the fuzzy.

This year Clapp started running a twelve part single collection bringing us a wealth of new material from the best like-minded D.I.Ys in Van. For February and March, respectively, we have the release of Capitol 6’s “No One Came” and two songs from the B-Lines, “Tell me” and “You Are Here.”

Capitol 6 - No One Came

The throwback folk rock revival style was one of the best parts from Capitol 6’s Pretty Lost last year and I was all about “No One Came” when I first heard it. It’s slightly Dylan-esque in the way the lyrics and the rhythms flow but without sliding sideways into a parody of itself. It’s a good four minute, leisurely kind of driving song with a dose of psych pop.

B-Lines - Tell Me

The B-Lines though made good use of the single sided single and fit two songs on to their release. They’re two quick and sweet punk tunes, “Tell me” is about putting together the pieces of a black-out kind of night, and the thirty four second, “You Are Here,” a reflection about truly knowing one’s self. B-Lines put a well-defined sense of humour into their music, making for an enjoyable punchy punk jolt whenever you need one.

Besides Capitol 6 the B-Lines there’s new 7-inches from White Poppy, Love Cuts, Weed, Apollo Ghosts and at least half of Discorder’s cover bands from the last year. A lucky few are getting 12 of these singles mailed to them but you will have to hope and pray that you can score a couple of these singles in stores.