Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club - Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club

Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club

​Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club
self-released; 2017

​3.5 out of 5

By Dom Eagle

Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club is a band that was formed in 2016 by cousins Kavon Samadi and Jake Robinett in their home-town of Clarkston, WA. This self-titled EP Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club is their first release and features only a small tasting of the many songs they have written. Prior to this project Samadi was in the duo Vegetarian Cats which played many shows in Eugene, OR. Robinett previously had a solo project, Moon Animal, which has put on shows in Clarkston. 

​Their five-track EP opens with “I Eat Your Trash.” Despite the trash theme, I’d say the song is far from it. A soothing and mellow bass rhythm drives the track along with reverberating, warbling electric guitar and scratchy, passionate vocals. The unique vocal style adds a bit of flavor to the track. I prefer the approach to standard sweet vocals. It adds some character and an engaging sound to the music. I think the most intriguing thing about the band is the mellow instruments clashing against the guttural, raw, rock-esque vocals. It’s a new sound, and there’s potential for huge variation.

“Jungle Moves” proves the possibility for variation in Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club’s sound. It might be a weird comparison today, but this track reminds me of very early Kings of Leon. Before their fame, they channelled a rock n’ roll sound with screeching, electrifying vocals; this is the approach Captain Jack and The Garbage Can Club take. There’s almost a sense of free-styling going on here, and I absolutely love it. It also reminds me of Jack White and At The Drive-In. There’s a rawness to the musical performance but also the songwriting. The guitars are distorted, but they chug along sloppy with room to breathe and morph themselves into new shapes (as long as they follow the precise beat, which they do).

“Galaxy’” is a trippy intergalactic experience, as promised by the title. Warbling, atmospheric synths reverberate and transcend the human world. The vocals take on a new approach which was entirely unexpected. They fluctuate between the classic raw, scratchy, rock n’ roll sound and soothing falsetto. The attempt at new sounds is what I find so exciting about this band; I never know what’s coming next.

“Times Are Changing” is driven by a hip-hop-esque beat and jazzy guitars. It’s mellow, trippy, and completely soothing. A bass rhythm bursts into the mellow madness to induce a lip-biting reaction from the listener. It’s an otherworldly experience, and there’s no other way to put it. New sounds burst through at unexpected moments, and it’s entirely unclear whether they’ve been generated organically or by some synthetic instrument. Either way, it sounds fantastic.

As you can tell, I loved what this collective had to offer here. They’re such a diverse band, and I have a feeling that they’ve a lot left to offer. Time will tell, but I urge you to give them a listen for yourself to see what I mean.

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