Captain Phoenix - ‘Living On The Guestlist’ (Kind Canyon) Released 05/03/07

We all feel a teensy bit sorry for Danni Mingoe, forever destined to (somehow) lurk behind the miniscule golden-hotpants success of her sister.  Not so, Ben Burrows.  Yes, his brother is in Razorlight.  Then again, who really cares?  By no means are Captain Phoenix deemed to lurk in the ego-dripping shadows of Razorlight’s Bono-backslapping success.  Treading the same tight-jeans-battered-paths of London, they resolutely hold their own.  ‘Living on the Guestlist’ is a glorious romance lurking in a lonely and futile tale of the underbelly of London’s indie-scene.  And yes, it’s a scene littered with puked up remnants of illicit WKDs by underage kid’s who’ve nabbed their sister’s Ids.  It’s speckled with omnipresent Arctic Monkey soundtracks in clubs surrounded by don’t-you-know-who-I-ams from Topshop steeped media daddy’s girls.  There’s broken hearts and broken guitars, knob-ends who want to beat you up coz you look like Faris Rotter, and toilets laced with enough cocaine to make Daniella Westbrook reconsider her nasal reconstruction.

Captain Phoenix are not weary, not whiny, not resentful: they turn this shitty scenester routine into truly beautiful pop-songs.  Ben’s vocals are superb: delivered with passion, soul and strained through just the right measures of booze and nicotine.  ‘Living on the Guestlist’ is honest and stupidly catchy: reaming stoically uncliched, but still one to bring home to your mother.  ‘Pistols and Hearts’ further showcases the vocal ability and melodic supremacy of this band.  Mythically, there is only one phoenix alive at any one time.  This band looks to remain burning for a long time yet before ashes are on the horizon.