Sweet blue world

Image: Colleen Plumb

The Origin of Rain - Capstan Shafts

Hip to the Sweet Blue World Again - Capstan Shafts

Project of the suspiciously prolific, faux-Brit accented, pretentious song-title bestowing Dean Wells, Capstan Shafts sometimes out-Pollards even Robert Pollard. The 29 tracks on Environ Maiden (CS's seventh full-length following a flurry of self-released LPs) average to less than a minute a pop. And Wells, I'm convinced, built his own recording equipment with tinker toys, scrap metal and bendy straws. In the age of Pro Tools, that there's what's called a conscious choice, a pledge to what can be, in the right hands, the awesome beauty of lo-fi. And by the right hands I mean, of course, someone with a knack for hooks. Oh lordy, the hooks! "The Origin of Rain" is an aching-breaking snip of song whose chord progressions are as lovely and familiar as high school crushes and clam chowder and the smell of snow. The relatively long (49 seconds) "Hip to the Sweet Blue World Again," has a feverish lilt, a buzzing, faintly throttled elation that can't be contained by the walls of the garage where Wells plays a modest Guitar God to the rakes and broken toasters and spare tires. When his voice doubles up on goodbye, I puddle at his feet.

From Environ Maiden (download album from Amazon for only $7.99). Myspace