The Yawpers - Capon Crusade

The Yawpers Capon Crusade, out this week (buy it here at cdbaby), is a badass record with giant balls. It's messy, loud, distorted and six kinds of fun. Hailing from Boulder, CO and led by vocalist/guitarist Nate Cook, The Yawpers scrap like a dogfight between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Cook makes like a manic Peter Case fusing acoustic folk blues with cathartic, stomping rave-ups that explode like cheap beer flying out of wildly shaken happy hour long necks.

There are times when calling a group a "bar band" can seem like a pejorative. This is not one of those times. This is the band you want playing at your favorite bar... every night. Even when they hit "Rock Bottom", where "the floor is covered from door to bed in Rolling Rock and cigarettes", the band sizzles with a chaotic fever, the tempo driven by the downright nasty blues harp of secret weapon Dave Romano. I can't remember a recent rock record where the harmonica spit felt like it was leaking out of the speakers.

Capon Crusade mixes styles effectively, balancing the lighters aloft power balladry of the (slightly) overlong "Darkening Doors" with the scuzzy blues wail of bookend barnburners "Savage Blue" and "Silicone Love". "Mother" explores the need for connection and the desire to find home, and evokes prime Whiskeytown in the process, while "Replace Me" cops the Springsteen harmonica riff from "Promised Land". Currently on tour to promote their debut full length, The Yawpers expect to hit the Northeast next spring - watch this space for further updates.

 

The Yawpers - "Mother"

The Yawpers - "Rock Bottom"