‘Bad Barbara’: nice title! I approached this in anticipation of a quirky Sixties ditty (R & B on the edge of psychedelia, “look out, Barbara’s a bit of a goer”, something like that) but, in the event, what emerged from the speakers was jaunty, mannered Noughties pop (viz. Scouting for Girls). Spoiler alert! I’m about to give away the shock ending. I say ending, but the jig is up in the second verse: “she’s a guy – that caught me by surprise…” Well, it would, dear. ‘Lola’, this song ain’t, but kudos for the audacious rhyming of “Barbara” and “murderer” and I liked the Adams Family/creepy fairground piano combined with the choppy rhythm guitar (although it’s a bit buried in the mix). I can’t decide whether to be impressed or alarmed by the vocals (sounding a bit like Mika after one too many espressos) and I wasn’t too keen on the would-be sinister laugh at the end, which is presumably aiming for Vincent Price on ‘Thriller’ but sounds more like Peter Mandelson on ‘Question Time’ (hmmm, perhaps not so far off then…).
Summoning my amazing powers of predicting a song from nothing more than its title, I fully expected to hear another side of The Caper on ‘Creatures’: slow, meaningful, philosophical, and profound, a la Athlete or Snow Patrol. But no: it continues in the vein of ‘Bad Barbara’, although without the transvestism or cod-psychosis thankfully. The guitar on this one is impressive: fluid and inventive, and I particularly like the lead guitar fills between the vocals. Sadly, though, the guitar solo sounds a tad under-rehearsed so doesn’t make too much of an impact. Also, I’m not too sure about the butch vocals on the chorus, and indeed the whole general rockin’ thrust of the chorus (no pun intended).
‘Don’t Jump Georgy’ is my favourite of the three songs on this playlist. Although not groundbreaking lyrically, (it basically boils down to Office Life is Rubbish) it’s more substantial musically than the other tracks and is less obviously derivative. It reminds me of one or two of my favourite songs of yesteryear, with Blur’s ‘London Loves’ popping out of the memory). The sweetly distorted guitar burbling away between the vocals is very likeable, and the drumming is nice and crisp, helping the song to motor along cheerfully.
On this evidence, The Caper are decent musicians and their songs are polished and well thought out; everyone knows their part and how to play it. Bad Barbara is a bit of a laugh, but the novelty wears off after a few listens, while ‘Don’t Jump Georgy’ is the song that, for me, suggests The Caper have a brighter future than touting for business as a Scouting for Girls tribute band (Touting for Girls, perhaps?)