Captain We’re Sinking | photo by John Vettese for WXPN
The Key Studio Sessions: Captain, We’re Sinking
A product of the remarkably fertile pop punk soil in Scranton, the gentlemen of Captain, We’re Sinking release their third LP this Friday. The King Of No Man, out on Run for Cover Records, is a reflective set of songs about mortality, loneliness and disconnection, and it finds the band’s craft in top form. Which makes sense, as they’ve been at it for a decade.
Co-singers and songwriters Bobby Barnett and Leo Vergnetti released their first collection of music, The Animals are Out, in 2007. A string of singles and EPs followed, splits with Spraynard and the like, and in 2015 all that music was collected in one place as a self-titled release after the band joined the Run for Cover family for 2013’s The Future is Cancelled.
Today, Barnett and Vegnetti are joined by Zack Charette on bass and Bill Orender on drums, and they visited XPN studio this week to preview a few more songs from King, two from each songwriter. As much as the bandmates try to keep the atmosphere light and casual — Vergnetti introducing the propulsive punk of “Cannonless” as a song about Mario Kart — there’s clearly a lot of emotion and sensitivity driving it.
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Take Barnett’s “Hunting Trip”: it’s a vivid character sketch where our narrator takes a winter trek in the woods to bond with friends but can’t stop thinking about their father’s death and the devastating effect it had on the family unit. Driven by jangling and dreamy guitars and a subdued Weakerthans-sequel delivery, it’s nuanced and specific, and you’ll feel their pain.
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Tomorrow, the entire album makes its way out in the world and Captain, We’re Sinking performs it live at Everybody Hits with Loose Tooth, Queen Jesus and Brackish; more information on that show can be found here. They’ll also be at Asbury Park Brewery on July 18th; more info on that show can be found here. Grab your copy of King of No Man here and listen to their Key Studio Session below.