Though rather barebones by design, the strings that produce the foundational melody in Captain Dane-O’s single “A Long Time Ago” are strangely hypnotic right out of the box, and despite their jagged arrangement, they arguably serve as a more entrancing element than any other in the whole of the song. In a “A Long Time Ago,” Captain Dane-O establishes himself as a player as indebted to the psychedelia of artists like Donovan as he is the alternative spirit that paved the way for a far more eclectic generation of singer/songwriters (perhaps starting with Nick Cave), and while this isn’t the only intriguing track you can find on his album Monster in the Addict, it’s easily my personal favorite.
The structure of this song brings to mind The English Beat’s “Mirror in the Bathroom,” albeit less exotic in tone, and while the string play definitely commands a good chunk of our attention from the get-go, the lead vocal here is unquestionably as responsible for the melodic chills as the instrumentation is. Every component in “A Long Time Ago” could be described as remarkably haunting in some fashion or another, and despite the simplistic approach that Captain Dane-O took to the construction of the harmony here, there’s scarcely a moment where it doesn’t feel like the most stirring point of interest in the song.
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/user-262945559/a-long-time-ago
Although it’s essentially as black and white as indie rock gets these days, Captain Dane-O’s “A Long Time Ago” is a very intriguing release from an artist with a lot of potential that I’d love to see exploited more in his future endeavors. In the last five years, a renewed interest in the gothic undertow that drove home some of early alternative rock’s most memorable anthems has led to increasingly moody output from some of the underground’s most promising young players – Captain Dane-O included – but I don’t get the impression that his latest work is the mere product of some larger revolution taking place in or outside of his scene. This sounds and feels like an authentic stab at self-expression, and with any luck, it will soon be joined by similarly glowing gems in this artist’s expanding discography.
Jodi Marxbury