Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly

Searching For The Hows And Whys

Label: Atlantic Release Date: 17/03/2008

33989
mikehaydock by Mike Haydock March 11th, 2008

Can one song destroy an album? Usually, no: even some of your favourite albums of all time will have a dud track on them. But planted slap-bang in the middle of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’s second album lies ‘I Could Build You A Tower’, a gut-wrenching, cringe-worthy song of preposterous preaching, where Duckworth jettisons subtlety in favour of fuzzy clips of newsreaders reporting on various high school shootings, while he moans about worldwide conflict. If only we’d all talk, he suggests, everything would be okay.

It’s like he’s lost his mind. Skip onwards a couple of tracks to the gorgeous ‘Moving Forward’ and you’ll gain sweet relief. But back there, for just over four minutes, he got on his soapbox and patronised the hell out of us. So which is the real Sam Duckworth?

For the most part, Searching For The Hows And The Whys is performed by the songwriter’s much more likeable persona, and at times it’s a really, really good album, full of strong choruses that get catchier on each spin. Opener ‘Let The Journey Begin’ is a fully formed single, while the gentler cuts of ‘Young And Lovestruck’ and ‘Postcards From Catalunia’ manage to tug at the heartstrings without sounding saccharine.

But you’ll need patience to come to these conclusions, because on first listen, it’s truly galling how little Get Cape have moved on and developed. When he first appeared, Sam’s acoustic guitar and box of tricks were enough to mark him out as a talented individual - the minimalism was what made him special. But isn’t it wrong that his palette is still so limited?

Searching For The Hows And The Whys maintains the tinny etherealism of Get Cape’s debut, rather than bursting with new life and vigour, and as a result it all sounds fluffy, vague and grey. He’s stuck with his ‘sound’, which is his prerogative. And it still works. But ultimately it’s tough to shake the feeling that you’ve heard all of this before.

It’s such a shame, because even that atrocious song in the middle can't override the fact that this is a well crafted and enjoyable album, easily good enough to please Get Cape’s fans and label bosses. But he’ll need to expand his range next time if he wants to keep people interested.

  • 7
    Mike Haydock's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

The Futureheads @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, 05/03

Mobback
33882
33914

Dawn Landes

Fireproof

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND