Photo Credit: Chris Georghiou
Kid Kapichi (pronounced Kapee-chee) released their third studio album There Goes The Neighbourhood earlier this month via Spinefarm and, on the first listen, it’s almost like a continuation from the band’s second album, Here’s What You Could Have Won, once again examining the state of the country and wider world.
The punk quartet from Hastings were formed in 2013, when Jack Wilson and Ben Beetham began writing songs together with the 2016 track Ice Cream being their debut single and the band grew from there adding George Macdonald and Eddie Lewis to the line up.
The album gets off to a heavy start with Artillery as the music leads into Jack Wilson singing the first words of the album: “Here we go, first thing’s first/Nobody move, nobody gets hurt.” This one is raw punk at it’s finest, dealing with the corrupt political system. It’s a great opener. Lets Get To Work has an addictive guitar riff running throughout and a catchy chorus, the smart lyrics exploring how work can take over our lives. Tamagotchi continues in this vein, which was written for “Anyone staring down the barrel of the big three-O,” as Wilson sings about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sunny D and Stretch Armstrong among others, and of course the title itself relates to the keychain-sized virtual pet simulation game.
Whatever your political standpoint, Can EU Hear Me? is a fun poke at the political system and mainly B-r-e-x-i-t. This is the type of song The Reytons would produce and it works well musically, proving once again that these guys are clever songwriters. On first listen, Get Down‘s comical lyrics will have you laughing away, including “So it’s Friday night, and work was shite” as we walk through a fun night out on the town. 999 takes a more serious look at the policing system in the UK, written after the shocking murder of Sarah Everard. Musically, this is the heaviest track on the album almost verging on metal – the volume should be cranked up on this album highlight. The contrast in the next track Subaru is stark, it’s Kid Kapichi’s attempt at a pop song, well as near as can be anyway, as Wilson sings about a girl that might be “the one,” singing “Her brother drives a Subaru/Her dad’s a master in Kung Fu/They’d kill me if they ever knew/We’ve gotta keep it a secret”. The catchy synth-led chorus will get you bopping along.
Graham ‘Suggs’ McPherson of Madness fame makes the only guest appearance on the album, with the recently released single Zombie Nation, and shows the band’s musical diversity as they try their hand at ska and actually do a great job with it. Wilson and Suggs share vocal duties to a backdrop of keyboards and a catchy basslines. The track ends with Suggs shouting to Wilson “Oi! Cheer up Jack, it might never happen,” to his reply of “Think it already has Suggs!” It’s a brilliant collaboration.
There Goes The Neighbourhood runs to 37 minutes and ends with Jimi, which is a tribute to the late Jimi Riddle, a musician who inspired Jack Wilson to get into music as a teenager. It’s is a poignant end to an album that is full of clever lyrics and fresh sounding punk.
9/10
Standout Tracks: Can EU Hear Me? Get Down, 999, Zombie Nation
For Fans Of: SNAYX, Bob Vylan, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
Written by: Alan Brown
