Hailing from Alberta, Calling All Captains have been working tirelessly over the last two years on their debut full-length, Slowly Getting Better. With more demos than they’d ever composed before, Calling All Captains got to work refining and curating each song, taking weeks to decide which would make the cut and which fell short of their intended greatness. The dynamic of their creative process is an interesting one, with each member having a set focus: Luc and Connor together do the bulk of the song-writing, Brad and Tim focus on the technical elements and beat respectively, and Nick tweaks the arrangement to best translate to live performances. If nothing else, the band’s passion shines through.
A welcoming blend of pop punk and post-hardcore, Slowly Getting Better sits in the sweet spot between both genres, with the upbeat melodies and famously-catchy choruses of the former and the cutting aggression of the latter. For many, this will be an ideal fusion. Had this released a couple years ago, I might have loved it, as is the case with 2019 track “Chasing Ghosts”—far and away their most popular song. Unfortunately, I have become pretty discerning when it comes to welcoming new tracks to my pop punk rotation, and a majority of this album does not make the cut. That said, it is paced very competently; the arrangement of tracks allows for a coherent flow, and the spacing of harsher vocal passages leaves the record without any extended lulls.
The album kicks off with the most recent single, “Laurel Canyon”, so named because the opening riff was composed spontaneously on a Laurel Canyon acoustic in a random guitar store when the band were on tour. Just the right level of ambience accompanies the opening guitar passage, before the rest of the instruments kick in and the guitar tone falls in line with the rest of the record. The mixing of the unclean vocals leaves them feeling a little too cushioned and muted—most notably after the bridge—though they still provide a nice contrast. As both a single and an opening track, “Laurel Canyon” faithfully advertises what is to come on the rest of Slowly Getting Better.
Second single “Undone” is a track that went under the radar on my first few listens, but one which I often caught myself humming later. Sporting an extremely catchy hook and one of the most-infectious choruses on the record, “Undone” has all the hallmarks of a pop punk anthem. Of the safe tracks, it is by far the best executed. The gang vocals were recorded simultaneously, rather than separately and then layered, lending it an authentic and unified feel that stands in stark contrast to the subject matter of narcissism. ‘How you gonna come up on out of here? / Walkin’ tall like you’re so high in the stratosphere / But never come down to face all of your biggest fears / When you’re alone do you just drink up and wipe your tears?’
One track that I largely could not stand was “Loving Cup”. The generic, anthemic riff that is supposed to drive the track forwards instead limps, and the switch-up in delivery for the clean vocals fell flat for me, the tone turning a middling track into one I actively dreaded. This is obviously a stylistic clash with my own taste rather than an objective flaw, but not mentioning it when it had such a negative effect would, personally, leave the review feeling incomplete. Standing as an isolated case on the record, however, I can’t criticise its inclusion too much; Slowly Getting Better generally feels too safe, and this is at least Calling All Captains trying something different.
The album finishes strongly. Highlights “Wasted” and “Friends and Family” round out the tracklist, with the former being a cathartic song about the struggles of mental health and addiction. The song settles into a hypnotic rhythm until the beautiful guitar solo in the latter half offers a brief moment of clarity. The repeated chanting of ‘I will be alright’ in the outro is haunting, and can be either desperate or hopeful—a contronym for the listener to find themselves in. “Friends and Family” is by far the best track. A much moodier cut, it is extremely compelling, both instrumentally and with its message to accept oneself regardless of others’ opinions. The closer builds from melancholic pop punk to catharsis and acceptance, framed by an early Counterparts-esque lead. Coming from their previous EP, this is exactly the direction I hoped the album as a whole would take, freely incorporating melodic hardcore elements.
I rejoiced whenever they doubled down on this more aggressive aspect of their sound; although the simple, catchy sound appeals to a wide audience, it would be nice to see more experimentation in future. Beyond the scathing “Loyalty” and “Steady Pensive” with its guitar solo, the remaining four tracks were largely forgettable. Calling All Captains have attempted a hopeful soundtrack for those struggling, and it is really this element that I admire. The band pointedly leave off with ‘I’m slowly getting better, you can make this happen if you just put in the effort’ as the concluding lyrics of the record to show that recovery is not a destination but a road, and one that doesn’t need to be ventured alone. “Hang in there. We’ll all get better, together.“
Sitting at a lean 36 minutes, Slowly Getting Better is a short and refreshing romp into the pop punk genre, though with its accessible sonic formula the songs tend to blend together. A good attempt for a debut full-length, but ultimately nothing that reinvents the wheel. It functions as an uplifting pop punk record for background listening—with the lyrics shining through as a true representation of the band’s character—but otherwise fails to elevate itself above its peers.
Slowly Getting Better will be available this Friday, October 29th, via Rude Records, and you can pre-order it here.
5/10