Keith Caputo "Perfect Little Monsters" -- Perfection through Imperfection
Dec 19 '02
The Bottom Line Buy this record if you're a fan, and if you're not a fan, this record will make you become one.
Life is packed with little events, and little surprises along the way. I think it was a wise man who once said ‘the path I chose, I had to follow...’. We all make our choices, sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong, but regardless, we all do. And, we all have monsters. Some of our monsters are scarier then others. Some of our monsters are harmless, and some come in really scary forms. But one thing is for sure, we all have them.
I remember sitting in CBGB’s 313 gallery last April, listening to Keith Caputo practice material for his upcoming record, which was at the time untitled, and literally dropping my jaw, as he unveiled a song for the very first time, called ‘Got Monsters’, because for some reason, it just struck a chord with me, and made me think. Yeah, Keith Caputo’s songs usually have a way of doing that to me, only ‘Got Monsters’ did it more then others simply because of the truth held within. We do all have monsters, the true brilliance comes in recognizing the fact, and not allowing them to eat us alive.
‘Got Monsters’ is only one of eight tracks on Keith Caputo’s brand new record, a long awaited follow up to his record ‘Died Laughing’ which is entitled ‘Perfect Little Monsters’, a title which is quite brilliant in and of itself.
Devoted fans of Keith have actually been able to witness ‘Perfect Little Monsters’ evolve over the last few years at his incredible live shows, and now that the record is available for listening at home, they can have hours of listening pleasure as well.
‘Perfect Little Monsters’ is a record that is slightly less produced then Keith’s previously recorded material, but really conveys a lot more of emotion in that regard. The record really captures his brilliant darkness, and incredible emotion very well. The songs are each quite remarkable in their uniquesness, and quite fascinating in their tone.
The record starts off with a song called ‘Charade’ that really sets the tone for the whole record with its opening drum beat, and Keith’s introspective lyrics and awesome voice. ‘Charade’ is a song Keith had been playing live for the last few months, and here, recorded, the song has all of its dark beauty well captured for all to listen to.
Song number 2, ‘Solar Plexus’ is the song I always like to refer to as the ‘Diarreah and nausea song’, as the first time I heard it, those aforementioned lyrics twisted and turned around my mind for several days, trying to figure out at exactly what Keith was getting at. After repeated listens, I’ve put my fascination with the words aside, for droning drum beat, and Keith soothing voice, and instead of asking myself about diahrreah and nausea, I find myself asking ‘what does it feel like, and how does it feel like?’. ‘Solar Plexus’, is just a beautiful song, that continues the beautifully dark tone of the overall record.
‘Got Monsters’ is next on the record. Keith has completely captured the brilliance with which I heard the song first performed in CBGB’s gallery. It definitely is one of the most beautifully introspective songs I have ever heard. Both pain and misery are evident and heartfelt in Keith’s voice, and really punctuate the words of this song, that as I said above, I feel everyone can identify with in one way, shape, form or another. After all as he says ‘Everybody else in here, what has become of you...got monsters...how about you?’ Yup, I know I have them, and I bet you do to.
Track number four on the record, ‘Liver Rockstar’, is just as droning as the previous three, only it is much more up tempo then a lot of the stuff Keith has done in a while. For me, the song has a bit of a Nirvana feel to it, of course with Keith’s trademark beautiful darkness thrown in. As his voice drones the word ‘Sadheart’ over and over, I can’t help but feel my foot tapping, and myself repeating the words with him.
Song five, “What Were I Say’ brings the song back to the tempo set with the first three songs. As Keith’s beautiful voice sings ‘What I am is what I am’, I can’t help but think to myself, just how brilliant is that...yeah, we all are what we are, if only we all realized that. You see, that’s always what I’ve found to be one of the most intelligent things about Keith’s songs are that I can always find a way to identify with the words and the music together, and I think so many of his fans truly feel the same way.
The songs ‘Snuggle Bug’ and “Cut Out Opposite’ are the last two tracks on the record, and they both are perfect to close the record out, as they really close out the flavor of the record, and help bring it to a dark, and beautiful close. The final track on the cd, ‘Been Zamped’, is just plain hilarious, and really needs to be heard, rather then described.
As a long time fan of Keith Caputo though, and as someone who waited a very long time to hear ‘Perfect Little Monsters’, I find myself extremely satisfied, and extremely in awe of the records overall integrity, beauty and listenability factor. Since I picked it up at Keith’s record release party at the 313 Gallery, it has not left my cd player. ‘Perfect Little monsters’ is the kind of record thats meant to be listened to over and over again, and enjoyed time and time again. It’s the kind of record that really anybody can listen to, whether they are a fan of Keith’s or not, and enjoy each and every song ina nd of itself.
It is quite amazing to watch the growth of a musician over the years, and I guess we can all feel privleged to have bene there from the Life of Agony days to the ‘Died Laughing’ days to now. Keith is a musician who with time, will only continue to metamorphosize, and fill the world with incredible musical beauty.
The record is packaged quite beautifully in its simplicity, with no liner notes, and with a simple cd case...simple packaging for incredibly complex music...perfect through its imperfections.
So those of you who don’t have ’Perfect Little Monsters’, definitely pick it up through this website, or at a Keith live show, and those of you who do, continue, just like me, and enjoy the musical majesty held within. The only thing I can wish for is that the record was slightly longer....
Yeah, we’ve all got monsters. And so should you. Get Perfect Little Monsters.
Thank you for reading.
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