The Capstan Shafts aka. Dean Wells

ok.

So, i woke up early yesterday morning, biked from Winooski down into Burlington, and met up with the folks at Tick Tick for a nice morning meeting.

Lots of great chatter and ideas, but the best thing i could have never envisioned, was being introduced to the music of The Capstan Shafts.

Had never heard of them, or him, or whomever it was making the kickass quick poppy cleverly written rock songs.

So, as soon as i got to work I googled the shit out of them.

It turns out that The Capstan Shafts is “the solitary musical dreamscape of one Dean Wells, a lo fi mystic living in Vermont”

Upon digging further, The Capstan Shafts resides in Lyndonville, VT, released 17 albums/ EPs since 2004, and has never played a show.

I quickly downloaded his Halaluah Moancoaxers! EP which you can find for free here.

Eight songs in 10 minutes and 4 seconds.

Listened to that 5 times in the following hour, then wanting more, purchased Euridice Proudhon

Twenty two songs in 26 minutes and 53 seconds.

One day later, this album is still on repeat on my computer here at work.

Pulled directly from their labels website, Rainbow Quartz Records had this to say about him

The music consists of fiercely lo-fi short songs, nearly all under two minutes in length but all powerful enough to leave an indelible impression with a memorable melody line, phrase or riff. The song titles are amusing and enigmatic; the sound is an appealing homemade indie fuzz-rock with perfect pop hooks, intimate and playful, fleshed out with classic rock guitar riffs. Cryptic lyrics pair with catchy melodies and concise songs to conjure touches of GUIDED BY VOICES, BELLE & SEBASTIAN, the entire ELEPHANT 6 catalog, LOU BARLOW, LILYS, RAY DAVIES, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD-era BOWIE, and even punk pioneers WIRE and YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS.

And as far as him not playing any shows, thats about to change.

Saturday October 6, 2007 will mark the first performance by The Capstan Shafts.

Tick Tick is hosting a concert at the Stannard Church in Stannard, VT which features Johanna Kunin and the debut performance of The Capstan Shafts.

Quite an event.

It appears to be a warm up performance for his Rainbow Quartz CMJ Showcase at Arlenes’s Grocery coming up on Oct. 20th.

Id highly suggest taking a listen to both Johanna and Dean Wells projects, then trek it on out to the Stannard Church with a few friends in tow.

To hear 4 tracks off of his new 29 track LP titled environ maden, hit up here

For a review of the upcoming release by Herb from Pure Pop check here

To get a full rundown on Dean and some snippets of reviews, head over to Rainbow Quartz Records

If folks have additional info on Dean/ The Capstan Shafts (like what he looks like?), or want to drive on out to the show, definitely be in touch.