Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 25/09/06
Label: Atlantic

Southend's Sam Duckworth - aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - has had a short but meteoric rise from MySpace to the Radio 1 playlist, armed with an acoustic guitar, a beats-popping laptop and more than his fair share of teenage angst. Forget comparisons with Billy Bragg and, even more hilariously, The Clash, Sam's world is your typical late teen - unfocussed, politically confused, lots of shouting, but with the ability to pick at an acoustic guitar like an anteater with the scent of termites in its nostrils.

It also means he's open to a mix of sounds and styles that an older, wiser musician would run a mile from. He can certainly play that guitar - "Once More With Feeling" - come over all jazzy - "An Oak Tree" and drop some coolly executed beats - "Chronicles (Part Two)" - which root him in the here and now. Vocally, Duckworth sounds like he should. Confident, abrasive…and as though he has an indie rock band behind him, which is presumably the result of learning to hold his own in small rock venues. It gives Get Cape's sound great character, as on "I Spy", but comes at a price - a lack of memorable melodies and a less seductive vocal than you might expect.

We don't learn much about Duckworth's life here - these chronicles are not particularly revealing. He doesn't like Ikea, reality TV or Nike sweat shops and he likes to go home occasionally, but only "War Of The Worlds" concerns itself with real relationships. "Glasshouses", meanwhile, stands out as a more thoughtful offering. Its almost African harmonies topping a tasteful piano and acoustic opening, giving way to shuffling beats and a soaring chorus that wins the ongoing battle with Duckworth's lo-fi recording budgets. That will presumably change now that he's signed to Atlantic Records.

Elsewhere and it's slightly concerning that he's already writing songs about a gruelling life on the road - don't get jaded too soon, son. "Call Me Ishmael" shakes off that tour fatigue and launches into an indie pop romp that the Chesterfields would have been proud of 20 years ago. Then, on "If I had £1…", Sam opens up and reveals what the past 12 months have been like for him. No mention of Bestival, appearing on the "Jonathan Ross Show" or signing a major record deal, but "I've felt like a stopgap and a punchbag and a doormat…" Kids eh?

"Chronicles (Part One)" closes the album with another song about songwriting, gigging and leaving your mates behind and you can't help feeling that he's only scratching the surface here. Given enough new experiences and enough time to write them into his next album, Sam Duckworth has everything he needs to make a major impact. "The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager" is a great start, but it's just a start.

    by Andy Strickland