My Sad Captains - in time, 2014

"Best of Times is the third studio album released by the English band My Sad Captains on 17 March 2014 through Bella Union Records. The album was recorded in London and mixed by Larry Crane in Portland (OR). A single, 'Goodbye' was released on 29 January with a video directed by Dan Davis featuring Vincent Meehan (aka Lavinia Co-op)."

My Sad Captains - meta, 2012

 

 “Meta” is indeed the closing track — a beautiful, hazy, reverb-drenched slow-burner that feels like the perfect dreamy full-stop to the EP."

My Sad Captains - resolutions, 2012

“Resolutions” is a bittersweet New Year’s/reflection song about failed attempts to change, holding on to small moments of warmth amid loneliness"

My Sad Captains - round and back again, 2011

"There’s no better way describe Fight Less Win More than to say that it is the perfect album for a fall afternoon. The acoustic guitar is finger-picked superbly (as on the excellent Heavy Lifting) while the bass and drums establish a sort of coffeehouse laid-back groove and the keyboard launches subtle but affecting atmospherics."

My Sad Captains - all hat and no plans, 2009

"Melancholic indie folk-rock with jangly guitars, subtle keyboards, and Ed Wallis's warm, narrative-driven vocals. It evokes a sense of wistful reflection, fitting the band's "sad captains" theme—perhaps nodding to Philip Larkin's poem "The Old Fools" or just poetic melancholy."

My Sad Captains - here and elsewhere, 2009

"There’s no getting away from it, there’s something distinctly Blue Peter about this Camden quintet. We can’t help picturing them playing in matching knitted cardigans and black-rimmed specs chiming every fourth beat of the bar in an organic juice café in Brighton. With this in mind, there is a certain ‘here’s one we made earlier’ feel about their lethargic Wilco/Sparklehorse melodies and downbeat tempo. This Americana-indie debut does exactly what it says on the tin, but the fact is we’ve been here, there and elsewhere already with the jingly-jangly, vegan harmonies of The Magic Numbers, The Little Ones and… oh, you get the idea. All in all, it’s an agreeable debut, but a predictable one nonetheless."

My Sad Captains - goodbye, 2014

"The track is the opener, and it's got that quiet storm energy—languid guitars, even-keeled instrumentation, and lyrics that feel like a gentle wave of regret and resolution."

My Sad Captains - good to go, 2009

"Here And Elsewhere is a delight from start to finish. It’s sublime, placid, delicate. They remind me of a somewhat subdued Fanfarlo, they’re more low-key and a little lighter on the dramatic flourishes, though MSC is definitely in the same league when it comes to gorgeous music. It’s an album of sweeping tranquility, and mercy me it’s sensational. If I had to guess, I’d say MSC was listening to a whole lotta Beach Boys, Teenage Fanclub, and early Belle & Sebastian just before they holed up in the studio."

My Sad Captains - orienteers, 2011

"A sumptuous synthesis of epiphanic pop and Krautrock–inflected drift and diffusion… Few British bands since Spiritualized in their ‘90s imperial phase have been as proficient at inducing a beatific state of drift"

My Sad Captains - the sum total of everything, 2009

"It was just a case of trying to think of something to call the band, and deciding to steal someone else’s idea rather than think of my own."

My Sad Captains - great expectations, 2009

"On ‘Wide Open’, he has a single, simple insight, singing the song’s only line “I wonder why you feel the need to talk so loud like there isn’t anybody else around” over looped, pirouetting guitar, flares of tasteful feedback and a steady krautrock beat. A lyric less than a tweet in length turned into a stunning mantra, it’s the definition of less being more. And there’s no judgement, no scabrous sneer, just encouraging acceptance in its repeated delivery. It’s one of many highlights on an LP that speaks volumes for understatement and the beauty of quiet, wounded optimism."

My Sad Captains - don't listen to your heart, 2017

"since i started the blog, i've got to know some great bands and from time to time we talk through email or myspace or facebook... i like to call them friends because i'm an easygoing person and it's not very hard for me to make friends (through virtual medias. face to face i tend to be a bit shy). i like to think my sad captains is a band-friend of the blog. so i'm more than happy when i get news from them... they're releasing a free song taken from their album here and elsewhere, (released on stolen recordings) called 'you talk all night'. a very mellow and soothing tune. there' also a video for the song that is so simple but so well filmed that you can let your imagination flow with the images and build a story from it."