Madcap

Stand Your Ground (2001)

Dan

A lot of bands nowadays can't seem to find their own sound. They have many influences that make up their own music but in the end, you figure you have a vinyl record of another band with exactly the same sound. Madcap is not one of those bands. They've established a sound of old school, hard-hitting, fast punk rock that they have made their own.

Now, they mention that they've had influences from bands such as the Clash, the Ramones, Blitz, and other old school punk bands, but when I first heard Madcap, I thought Rancid. Now I'm not comparing the music to Rancid as Rancid plays much harder than Madcap, but the vocals of Alfredo remind me a lot of Tim's. Just an opinion.

Now enough with the compare and contrast bullshit. Let's talk about the album. It starts off with a hard, fast punk song called "Die". The song is basically saying that the media is corrupting the punk scene, using it to make money. Madcap is saying that the punk scene wasn't meant for the media's pocket, but was meant to stay a minority.

The second song is entitled "Downtown" which is basically saying that Madcap feel more comfortable in the big city.
The third song, "Going On The Road", is very relevent to teenagers and adults alike. It's about wanting to get away from your home. The song includes some melancholy like, "I just need to get the fuck out of this town. Just fuck it all."

Other popular songs on the album are "My Turn" (which is about the big corperations, such as MTV, who tell you which music to listen to), "Bottles Away" (Basically about drinking and having fun), "Saturday" (A song about a guy who had a one-night stand every week. Care to guess which day?), and "Two Steps Behind" (Which is about how people always want to be the best, whether it be making more money or living longer than someone else).

This album is all around fun to listen to. If you don't like old school, shitty punk rock, you probably won't like most of this CD. If you like more of the pop-punk, melodic songs, you should check out "Downtown", "Going On The Road", and "Bottles Away". Those are the only songs you would probably like. As for the rest of you, if you like bands like the Clash, the Ramones, Youth Brigade, Rancid, or even possibly the Misfits, you probably will like Madcap. If you're interested in any of those bands and like a band who sings about partying, having fun, and not taking shit from anybody, check this album out.