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I have always maintained that the three-piece band is the perfect rock and roll form. Drums, bass, and guitars all working in unison, with no room for anyone to not be doing their job but enough space to really get a groove on. And, if you want an example of just what that sounds like when it is firing on all cylinders, you could do no better than give Primitivo Astral, the new album from Spain’s masters of heavy psych, Capsula, a few spins.
Ten tracks that fuse all that was great about 60’s garage rock and psychedelia, surf sonics, 70’s punk, post-punk, post-rock…well, post-everything. It’s the perfect example of the sounds of the past taking root in the present to create the music of the future. No wonder the likes of Tony Visconti and John Agnello count themselves as fans.
The current single, “Spelling Love,” is the perfect place to start. Its snake-like and shimmering guitars and relentless drive are the ideal calling cards for the band, but that is just the tip of the sonic iceberg. “Premenicion” is a masterclass in crunching, staccato riffs, and punchy rabble-rousing vocals, “Go To The Desert” is what The Stooges might sound like if instead of owing their sound to their 60’s Michigan formative years were actually leading lights in today’s, Iberian alternative-rock scene and “Hacia el Sur” sounds like a collision between The Doors’ Dyonisian blues and Spacemen 3’s heavy trip.
The icing on this very pleasing cake is Coni’s vocals, which are powerful and propulsive, dynamic and anthemic yet controlled and considered when the moment calls for them.
Capsula are hardly new kids on the rock block, and this album is a high point of their 25-year musical journey, to date. Hopefully, this marks the point when they begin to get the recognition that they deserve for keeping the psychedelic, hard-rock flame alive and shining so brightly.
