Shmap'n Shmazz

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Shmap'n Shmazz
Studio album by
Cap'n Jazz
Released1995
RecordedDecember 27–31, 1994
StudioIdful, Chicago, Illinois
Genre
Length31:10
LabelMan With Gun
ProducerCasey Rice
Cap'n Jazz chronology
Shmap'n Shmazz
(1995) 		Analphabetapolothology
(1998)

Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On, and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over,[1] more commonly known as Shmap'n Shmazz,[a] is the only full-length studio album by the American emo band Cap'n Jazz. It was released in 1995 on the record label Man With Gun. Cap'n Jazz's lineup at the time of recording comprised Tim Kinsella on lead vocals, Davey von Bohlen and Victor Villarreal on guitar, Sam Zurick on bass guitar, and Mike Kinsella on drums.

The band formed in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, where the members had met as teenagers in Wheeling High School. Influenced by the Midwestern punk scene, the band developed an idiosyncratic sound characterized by enigmatic wordplay, chaotic guitar melodies, and vocals presented in a naive style, with Tim alternating from spoken word, singing, or shouting.

Cap'n Jazz broke up shortly after the album's release due to Victor suffering a non-lethal drug overdose during a tour. The album eventually went out of print for many years as the band members pursued other musical endeavors. When many of the band members' new projects gained attention in subsequent years, the success of their bands helped the album obtain a cult following.

Shamp'n Shmazz is regarded as a foundational album of Midwest emo and a milestone in the genre, helping emo into a more widely accepted subset of indie rock. All of the album tracks were re-released on the band's anthology album Analphabetapolothology and Cap'n Jazz reunited in 2010 and 2017 to perform tracks on the album.

Background and production[edit]

Tim Kinsella, the frontman of Cap'n Jazz, in 2006. He formed the band during his high school years.

In 1989, Tim Kinsella met Sam Zurick on the first day of school and became friends due to their shared music taste. Tim also later meets Victor Villarreal while skateboarding at Wheeling High School. Victor introduces Tim to his band, Toe Jam. The band contained two other players at the time. It contained a neighbor of Victor, Jim, and the high school's football star running back, Jeff.[2] Tim decides to joins the band as a guitarist. Sam also decides to join the band as a "roadie" and Tim's younger brother, Mike, joined the band as a rhythm guitarist.[2][3] Despite these initial collaborations, the songs produced by the original lineup of Toe Jam failed to captivate Tim and Mike, who found the music "mundane."[2][4]

Jim and Jeff decided to quit the band, but the remaining members still wanted to play in the band. The remaining members decided to create a new band with a complete overhaul. Sam starts playing bass guitar for the band, while Tim and Mike's mom purchased a drum kit for Mike.[2][4] The band name would be "Cap'n Jazz" after Sam blurted the name while eating the cereal Cap'n Crunch with the band.[2] The band decided to start touring and recording multiple extended plays. Davey von Bohlen, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, later joined the band as a second guitarist, who played before in the band Ten Boy Summer.[2] In 1994, Mark Corley, the owner of the record label "Man With Gun," persuaded Tim to record a full-length for the label.[2] Tim accepted the deal, and the band decided to record an album.

The band recorded at Idful Music Corporation, owned by Brad Wood, and with Casey Rice. When recording for vocals, little thought was put into structure, which Tim said hindered his relearning of the lyrics.[5] Pitchfork's Ian Cohen noted the vocal structure as the band focused on "shout first, process later."[1] The band recorded the album during the final five days of 1994, with the rehearsals of the album often being considered by the band members as chaotic.[3]

Composition and lyrics[edit]

Cap'n Jazz - Little League
A 24-second sample clip of the second verse in Little League, the opening track in the album. Tim equivocally describes a "ringwald haze" and bruises.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Musically, the album has been described as Midwest emo, but Tim, at the time, believed it was more of a different type of punk, claiming it was "weirdo punk." The album has also been described as math rock and post-hardcore.[1] The music uses irregular techniques such as playing with a French horn which is uncommon in punk rock.[3] AllMusic's Steve Huey describes the band as shifting from emo's musical focus to post-hardcore and post-punk to a more art punk style.[6]

When Cap'n Jazz was happening, we didn't ever thought of ourselves as an emo band. Maybe they all call this "emo" band but I thought we were like "weirdo punk" band. I never felt connected to [the emo] scene. It was also like jockish, you know?

—Tim Kinsella[3]

Lyrically, Tim wrote most of the lyrics and recorded his vocals with naiveness and amateur singing, which became the band's focal points.[1][6] The lyrics ranged from inside jokes to abstruse lyrics that bordered gibberish.[1][6] Tim said that he made most of his lyrics when he took psilocybin mushrooms for the first time.[5] Pitchfork's Ian Cohen said that despite the enigmatic lyrics it still expresses the same ideas from other influential emo bands like Rite of Spring or Sunny Day Real Estate.[1] Bob Nanna is credited on the song "Yes, I Am Talking to You" for the line "I'm dying to tell you I'm dying."[7] The band also credited Ryan Rapsys for the track "Precious" and Kevin J. Frank for "¡Qué Suerté!"[7] Similar in nature to its lyrics, the arcane album title consists of a combination of two sentence fragments that were inscribed on the album's spine.

Release and promotion[edit]

The album was released in 1995 through Man With Gun Records. Despite its limited mainstream exposure, it garnered a favorable reception within the local midwestern emo scene.[3][1] In efforts to promote the album, the band embarked on a tour. However, at the time, Sam and Victor were addicted to drugs to the point where both of them thought Tim was "straight edge due to not showing up on acid every day at school."[3] Despite concerns from other band members regarding their addiction, they took no action regarding the issue.

After playing a show in the first week of the tour in Little Rock, Arkansas, Victor was seen by the other band members urinating all over himself and other equipment.[3][1] Band members described the moment as terrifying due to his eyes being "rolled back" and how his body was "jitterily."[3] The band transported Victor to an emergency room. The hospital confirmed that he suffered a non-lethal overdose of Ritalin.[3]

Victor was released to the band members the morning after, although still unconscious.[3] The band members were conflicted on the course of action to do now with the band. While Davey and Tim advocated for canceling upcoming tour dates and continuing with the tour, Mike and Sam insisted on disbanding. Ultimately, Cap'n Jazz decided to disband, leading to the end of the tour as the band members returned home.[3] The break up of Cap'n Jazz hindered the album's promotion, and the album shortly went out of print.

Several members pursued other musical endeavors following the dissolution. Davey would create The Promise Ring, Mike would attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and form American Football there, Tim would form Joan of Arc, and Victor and Sam would create Ghosts and Vodka.[6]

Reception and legacy[edit]

Due to the band breaking up shortly after the release, the album received minimal attention from publications. However, the band reissued their album, including their extended plays and appearances in compilation albums, on their anthology album on Jade Tree titled Analphabetapolothology in 1998.[8] This was due to many fans contacting the band members on how they could find their out-of-print records during their concerts in other bands.[8] Jason Ankeny of AllMusic called the reissue "excellent."[9] Nick Mirov of Pitchfork called it the "Holy Grail to the post-emo indie-rock world."[10] Nick further praised Tim's vocal for his rapid-fire delivery of lyrics, describing the album as a "messy glory."[10] Folk singer Devendra Banhart described Cap'n Jazz as inspiring in his career due to how Tim attempts to be Arthur Rimbaud and compared Tim's vocals to "going to the zoo on quaaludes, but all the other animals are on speed."[3]

Shmap'n Shmazz is considered to be an influence on the Midwest emo scene.[6] NME listed the album as one of "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test of Time."[11] In Rolling Stone's list of the 40 greatest emo albums of all time, the album came in 7th, with Suzy Exposito writing that the album was "a significant blueprint for dozens of emo and post-hardcore acts to follow."[12] "Little League" appeared 3rd on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.[13] Vulture described the song as a "teenager's bedroom" where "a seemingly incoherent mess that, upon closer inspection, reveals the most intimate secrets."[13] Many bands and artists cite Shmap'n Shmazz and Cap'n Jazz as influences on their music, including Algernon Cadwallader,[14] Ryley Walker,[3][15] and The Get Up Kids.[16]

Band member Davey (pictured) initially said that he had "regret and contempt for the entire Cap'n Jazz experience."[8] Despite this statement, he joined back on a reunion tour in 2010.

While many of the band members reflect positively, such as Victor claiming that the music they recorded was therapeutic to him and that it helped him to release his emotions, band member Davey was rather dismissive about the album after release.[3][8] He cited only "regret and contempt" for the recording in an attempt by the Phoenix New Times for an interview in 1997.[3][8] When Phoenix New Times interviewed Tim about Cap'n Jazz, he said that he might be contempt due to commuting an hour's drive from Milwaukee for practice, only in the band for a couple of years, and did not get along with Victor.[8] Although present during Cap'n Jazz's 2010 reunion, he was notably absent from the 2017 reunion due to scheduling conflicts.[17]

Track listing[edit]

All music by Cap'n Jazz. All songs produced by Casey Rice.[7]

Shmap'n Shmazz track listing
No.TitleLyricistLength
1."Little League"
3:57
2."Oh Messy Life"Tim Kinsella2:03
3."Puddle Splashers"Tim Kinsella2:07
4."Flashpoint: Catheter"Tim Kinsella3:21
5."In The Clear"Tim Kinsella1:58
6."Yes, I Am Talking To You"
2:32
7."Basil's Kite"Tim Kinsella2:36
8."Bluegrassish"Tim Kinsella1:08
9."Planet Shhh"Tim Kinsella3:00
10."The Sands've Turned Purple"Tim Kinsella2:45
11."Precious"
  • Ryan Rapsys
  • Tim Kinsella
2:39
12."¡Qué Suerté!"
  • Tim Kinsella
  • Kevin J. Frank
3:02
Total length:31:10

Personnel[edit]

Personnel per booklet.[7]

Additional personnel
  • Anja Westerweck – backing vocals (on track 1)
  • Casey Rice – tambourine (on tracks 1, 3), recording, mixing
  • Kevin J. Frank – piano (on track 8), songwriting (on track 12)
  • Ryan Rapsys - songwriting (on track 11)
  • Bob Nanna - songwriting (on track 6, credited for the line "I'm dying to tell you I'm dying.")

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The name Shmap'n Shmazz comes from the compact disc's face.[1] This article uses Shmap'n Shmazz to refer to the album for consistency.

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cohen 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Gormley 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Staple 2017.
  4. ^ a b Terry 2016.
  5. ^ a b Gill 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e Huey.
  7. ^ a b c d Kinsella 1995.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Kelley 1998.
  9. ^ Ankeny.
  10. ^ a b Mirov 1999.
  11. ^ Barker 2015.
  12. ^ Exposito 2016.
  13. ^ a b Cohen et al. 2020.
  14. ^ Conoley 2009.
  15. ^ Alexander 2021.
  16. ^ Skinner 2009.
  17. ^ Sacher 2017.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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