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Das Kapital

Denying the West (2006)
Johann's Face

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Anchors
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on March 17th 2006

Das Kapital is a writing by Karl Marx that essentially criticizes capitalism, its various facets, how it operates, and what kind of impact it’s having on the world. Fitting, then, that the title of Das Kapital’s record is Denying the West, a theme that finds itself the basis for a decent portion of the record’s lyrics.

Getting away from any social and political affiliations for a minute, though, the record is a relatively sound one. For the most part the band sticks to some slower-paced punk tunes, other times opting instead to sound like vintage R.E.M. Either way, their sound is a succinct one that can stand on its own feet no matter the pace, and no matter what general comparisons I can draw. There’s no rousing sing-alongs, no fist-pumping anthems, but the sound of singer Marc Ruvolo’s voice is one that does command a certain sort of understated attention. He doesn’t scream, he doesn’t much raise his voice past normal singing level, but it’s got a real gravity to it that allows for all of the songs to sound fresh and inviting right off the bat. He has to do a lot of the work on his own, too, because the musicians behind him don’t bring anything all that memorable to the table. There’s a really solid drum fill here and there, some interesting chord progressions, but nothing is liable to stick in your head for longer than 30 seconds or so after the first listen. “Chains on the Hellespont” is the exception to this, as not only does the bouncy rhythm drive itself into your head, but the subtle guitar melodies will have you tapping your feet for quite a while after the song has ended.

Few bands are able to carry this sort of political agenda in such a fun, bouncy manner. Some songs are so infectious they’ll grip you right away, others won’t last more than 20 seconds in your head. The middle ground isn’t hard to find, and that’s where you’ll most likely be residing.

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SilentStorms (March 22, 2006)

Anyone read any John Ralston Saul?

SilentStorms (March 22, 2006)

The FountainHead is pretty sweet, and it's only like 600 pages. Atlas Shrugged is pretty sick though. Pretty.

Jet (March 20, 2006)

Ayn Rand is a hack. Her philosophy is trite and her fiction reads like a teenage poet overdosing on adjective.

david_arquette (March 20, 2006)

Anthem is way under 1000 pages.

fistchode (March 20, 2006)

Ayn Rand's perspective I'd read if it ever gets below 1000 pages. I save 1000 page books for topics I care about, as opposed to reading to understand how my enemies think.

GreenVandal (March 18, 2006)

I like Ayn Rand. It's nice to read different perspectoves now and then.

Jet (March 18, 2006)

Less Talk, More Rock
-Groucho

Anonymous (March 18, 2006)

glad to see that a few ppl on this site have some intelligence.

shindo (March 18, 2006)

So I googled it and got the quote wrong. BA in Sociology from a leftwing Canadian university my ass.

You're beating me. I've only got a minor in Sociology from a leftwing Canadian university.

-adam

Anonymous (March 18, 2006)

they're great live too!

riversmonkey (March 18, 2006)

read Engels, he destroys Marx.

Then check out Betrand Russell.

feeeding5000 (March 17, 2006)

"Nietzsche: Not Not A Right-Wing Ass-face" There aren't just "weak people" and "strong people"-- everyone is multi-facted. You can't just declare yourself an ubermensch and start ordering "inferior" people around. FUCK! Next thing you know, punk bands will be quoting Ayn Rand and saying how the invisible hand of the free market is all that people need.

fistchode (March 17, 2006)

So I googled it and got the quote wrong. BA in Sociology from a leftwing Canadian university my ass.

fistchode (March 17, 2006)

I'd consider Marx's most famous and quoted like "religion is the opiate of the masses".. which is from... ummm.. german ideologies? that doesn't seem right.. wow.. so university knowledge lasts... 6 months.

tigersuit (March 17, 2006)

orchid got a lot of stuff from friedrich nietzsche

shindo (March 17, 2006)

more bands need to reference marx. boy sets fire ripped him off on after the eulogy with the line "do we break these chains...?". marx wrote "workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains."

I think that's more a "reference to" rather than a "rip off of." If you were to rip off Marx it's not exactly very clever to rip off one of, if not THE, most famous thing he said. It's not like they stole some obscure point from the theses on Feuerbach or something and claimed it as their own.

-adam

Anonymous (March 17, 2006)