Captain Mantis who hail from Mexico are sure to get listeners hooked on their new EP, Vice Market. Four songs long and clocking in at just under 20 minutes, the EP is a brilliant masterpiece that delves into a few different genres and nails every one of them. If you haven’t given Captain Mantis a listen before, this is your sign to listen to them now.
Track one, Moonshine Alley, starts off with a cool guitar intro, quite jangly, quite 70’s classic rock. It’s old school and groovy and has an impressive intro, not introducing the vocals for a while to really highlight the instrumentals. It’s a really catchy opening track that sets the EP up and sets the tone. There is an extended guitar solo at the end that properly catches your attention and ends the track with the flourish.
The second song, Simon Frost starts off a bit slow, but unexpectedly picks up the pace. The drum and bass in the track is again, what can only be described as groovy. It sounds episodic, as though there are several songs pieced together to make it one epic track. It’s another bouncy track that gets you moving.
Galatea slows the pacing down a bit, giving a break from the liveliness of the two previous tracks. It allows for a moment of peace and chill, which is perfect and shows a different side to the band and what they can produce. It’s got an acoustic feel that makes the song feel more emotionally charged. It’s certainly the most beautiful track on the EP.
The final composition, titled Vice Market is longer than the rest, really allowing you time with the track, perhaps why the EP shares its name with this song. The guitar is both crunchy and smooth, but the most interesting aspect of the song is how the chorus is sung in Spanish. It gives it a latino edge, but one that is masked by the constant rockiness that appears in all of the tracks. The guitar solo is also a stand out, as well as the fairly quick isolated guitar bit around the four and half minute mark. This really amps up the song and gives it buoyancy as it edges towards the climax of the song.
The EP as a whole is a great listen and has a really nice flow. It would have been great to hear a full length album instead, to really show off how talented the band can be in a multitude of songs. Having not a lot of songs to their name thus far in their career, this was a nice way to explore them in more depth, and hopefully we will be hearing more from them soon.
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