A few weeks ago, my band had the fortune of sharing the stage with Dayton, OH indie-rockers Captain of Industry, who came at us by way of our friends in Pretty & Nice (who are about to drop ’08’s indie-pop bomb in October, more to come on that as the date approaches). Without ever having heard Captain prior to playing with them, I was instantly engaged in their live show – singer Nathan Peters calmly hid behind a battered Fender Rhodes piano, acting as the eye of an indie rock storm while his four band mates writhed around him, all dueling guitars a la Television and popping, instantly accessible, just short of recognizable hooks. But it wasn’t until I sat down with their album, The Bronze, that it really hit.

Their songs are short and sweet, just long enough to establish hooks but short enough to leave a distinct longing for something more. Each song has a story to tell, a message to convey, something instantly relatable reminiscent of early Pavement’s sincerity (like my favorite lyric from “Range Life,” – You gotta pay your dues, before you pay your rent). They’re just as likely to create shimmery neo-folk as they are frantic, deranged rock and roll. The album still knocks me over in it’s uniqueness, and that’s why I’ve included two tracks for download today. But dear god, buy this album, support this band.

Choosing which songs to upload was tough. Every other minute I’d decided on a different song, but here are the two I finally settled with:

“Face Full of Head Full of Hair” is on their neo-folk-shimmery-guitar-line side, as mentioned above. Great lyrics, dynamic structure, intriguing from start to finish. Peters uses a very peculiar inflection on his lyrics toward the end, some of the more engaging lyrics too.

“Sweet Nectar Action” is a minute and a half of furious, indie-rock bliss. Beginning with frantic hard-rock guitars, the song seamlessly transitions into a dance-rock anthem, with Peters’s double-tracked, harmonized falseto leading a tight groove that quickly crescendos and fades. Boom.

 And one of the more precious lyrics from the album:

“Let’s be friends and hold f’ing hands, burn me up we’ll tumble to the sun” – Blood, Sweat, Sex

 from The Bronze:

Face Full of Head Full of Hair – Captain of Industry

Sweet Nectar Action – Captain of Industry

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