Capdown is an English

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band from

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

. Originally known as Soap, their songs have political themes as alluded to by their name, which is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of Capitalist Downfall. Mixing

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, hardcore, dub,

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

, and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, Capdown built a reputation around their independent releases and numerous tours.

Career

The band members had been playing together since the age of 14. The band, originally known as Soap, had sent the demo of the ''Time For Change'' EP to the indie Household Name Records in 1998 and had played a gig with

Link 80 Link 80 was an American punk rock/ska punk band from San Francisco's East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay, United States. Band history Link 80 started in the summer 1993 in the East Bay (California), East Bay of California. In the beginn ...

at the record company's request, which led to them being signed onto the label. The EP was released in 1999 under the new name of the band, Capdown (short for Capitalist Downfall). In May 2000, Household Name Records released Capdown's debut album '' Civil Disobedients''. The album featured hardcore, but also mixed in

and dub. According to Drowned in Sound the album kick started an underground punk scene. The album went on to be listed at 76 in the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

's top one hundred list for the decade. In the same year Capdown played nearly 250 gigs. In early 2001, Capdown toured with a number of established American bands, including

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Buddy Schaub (trombone), Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxophone) and Matt Yonker ...

and played the Deconstruction touring festival with Pennywise and

Lagwagon Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. They formed in 1989, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the ba ...

. In September 2001, Capdown released their second album, '' Pound for the Sound'', receiving positive reviews from ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

''. The following year saw tours with

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilities and ...

and

Hundred Reasons Hundred Reasons are an English alternative rock band formed in London, England, in 1999. It consists of Colin Doran (vocals), Larry Hibbitt (guitar, vocals), Andy Gilmour (bass), and Andy Bews (drums). After releasing ''EpOne'', '' EpTwo'', a ...

. Capdown was featured in the 2002

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary Brassic Beats about the British

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

scene. In 2003 the band signed to

Fierce Panda Records Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-s ...

, releasing two EPs: ''Act Your Rage'' and ''New Revolutionaries''. The former reached the 80th spot on the UK Singles Chart on 10 May 2003. As of November 2004, ''Civil Disobedients'' and ''Pound for the Sound'' have sold more than 30 thousand copies together. The band received critical acclaim for their live performances. In 2006, Capdown played at the first Slam Dunk Festival. The final line-up consisted of Jake Sims-Fielding (vocals and saxophone), Robin "Boob" Goold (bass guitar), Keith Minter (guitar and vocals), Tim Macdonald (drums) and a new addition, Andrew "Eddie" Hunt (keyboards/samples). They released their final album on 5 February 2007, entitled '' Wind Up Toys'' on

. The band split up after their final UK tour, which was due to be 9 November 2007, in their home town of Milton Keynes. However their 'final show' took place on 7 June 2008, at the Pitz club in Milton Keynes, following a 'warm up' at the Peel in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

on 5 June 2008. It was announced in 2010 that Capdown were to reform exclusively for the Slam Dunk Festival, held in London and Leeds on 29 and 30 May that year. However, the band also played at the

Rebellion Festival The Rebellion Festival, formerly Holidays in the Sun and the Wasted Festival is a British punk rock festival first held in 1996. The festival has attracted mainstream press coverage from such sources as The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and ...

in Blackpool on 6 August 2011. In addition, they appeared at the

Hevy Music Festival Hevy Music Festival was a rock festival established by Claire Baker and James that took place annually near Folkestone, Kent, in the UK. It was originally held on 1 August 2009 on Folkestone seafront as a one-day festival with Feeder, Gary Num ...

in Kent, between 5 and 8 August 2011 and at the

Reading and Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festi ...

on 27–28 August 2011. In December 2014 the band played together with

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to MFGG or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, C. J. Ramone, Joey Cape, Pinch and John Reis. ...

and The Skints on the

Jägermeister Music Tour The Jägermeister Music Tour was a hard rock, hardcore punk, and heavy metal music tour that was held twice a year in the United States between 2002 and 2012. It was owned by the American importer of Jägermeister, Sidney Frank Importing. Hist ...

. In May 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and September 2021, the band played at the Slam Dunk Festival in Leeds and Hatfield, United Kingdom.

Other projects

Following the original demise of Capdown, both Goold and Macdonald worked on a new band, The Maccalites, alongside Simon Wells from Snuff/Southport. Goold, Minter and Macdonald are also members of rock band This Contrast Kills. Since 2012 Robin Goold and Tim Macdonald have been working on The GetGone with Ben Hyman, David Lloyd (1000 Hz) and Rob Blay. The band have released the 5 track ''Stories and Ruses'' EP in 2013, and their debut album ''One Thousand Ways To Live'' in April 2016. Both recorded and produced by Capdown's Keith Minter. As of 2013 Tim Macdonald has been playing drums in the UK Hardcore band Menshevik along with Steve Pitcher of Vanilla Pod, Dan Hawcroft previously of Whizzwood and Robert Dempsey of Mustard City Rockers.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

* Act Your Rage (2003) * New Revolutionaries (2003)

Other releases

Critical reception

In 2021, ''Louder'' included the band in a 'best of' list, saying "Capdown kick-started something of a movement here in the UK ...", and that if things had gone differently it could have been massive.

Notes

References

External links

Official siteGravity DIP Records PageInterview with Jake
at Onemetal {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom Third-wave ska groups Entertainers from Milton Keynes English ska musical groups Fierce Panda Records artists British political music groups Post–third wave ska groups 1997 establishments in England