An Edmonton-based band is reaching the Limestone City this week, bringing with them their debut full-length and self-titled album.
Carter and the Capitals will play their first-ever Kingston concert on Oct. 24 at Spearhead Brewing Company.
When it came to brainstorming an image for themselves, the band found their name by mixing lead singer Lindon Carter’s last name and the fact that all are from capital cities.
Through this, Carter and the Capitals was born.
In the group with Carter is Eric Wildeman on guitar, Eric Doucet on keyboards, Ali Mirzaie on bass guitar, and Sam Malowany on drums and percussion. Each band member also contributes to vocals, making for a full-sounding and harmonious background through each track on the album.
The band started in 2015, when they were all still students at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.
“We were still going to school,” lead singer Lindon Carter said. “We did start playing some shows, but we weren’t doing too much recording and we weren’t going as hard as we have since graduating.”
The vocals in their debut album give the feeling of listening to a full-sized choir—with all five , their ranges reach in all directions.
Travelling to Kingston for the first time, this concert will mark the Easternmost venue Carter and the Capitals have ever played.
Since releasing their album in the spring of 2019, they’ve mostly played shows in Western Canada, including Manitoba, Winnipeg, and other locales in Alberta and B.C.
The audience reception so far has been positive.
“We’ve been selling many physical records. We got it pressed to vinyl and CDs and we’ve had some great shows,” Carter said.
The album, Carter and the Capitals,captures the band’s signature high-energy, rock, pop, and funk sound. It’s an eclectic mix of all things these genres have to offer listeners.
Carter’s favourite song on the album, “One Step from Magic,” is perfect proof of this. The poppy underlying tempo keeps the whole song afloat, while the repetitive lyrics sing, “One step from, one step from, one step from magic,” with Carter’s voice rising and falling quickly and smoothly.
Their song “Good Try” has an electric instrumental section halfway through, adding to their overall upbeat energy. The repetitive lyric, “Good try, honey, saying goodbye,” makes for a very catchy tune.
The songs on Carter and the Capitals range from a high-intensity dance-track vibe to slower tempos and lyrics that bring you down a little. What makes these songs consistent with the band’s general sound is the pop and swagger of the melody.
One of these slower songs is called “Dark.” The entirety of the song is about getting rejected after a one-night stand. The girl he sings about tells him she was only interested in him in the heat of the moment.
Carter sings in the chorus about finding a note on a pillow the next morning that says, “You only looked good in the dark to me.”
Despite this, it’s a fun song.
Striking this balance isn’t a rare feat for the band to pull off. They know how to keep listeners’ energy up, no matter what they’re singing about.
Carter says their stage presence is half their appeal.
“We’re a live band, we love our recordings and all the work we’ve done,” he said. “We’re very exciting to watch because we have an amazing time on stage, we’re very fun and dance-y.”
More than anything else, Carter hopes the audience has as much fun as they do.
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