Kid Kapichi

There Goes The Neighbourhood

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ft. Suggs.
Genre: Rock, Punk Rock.
Released: 15/03/2024
Via Spinefarm Records

Album Review: Kid Kapichi – There Goes The Neighbourhood

Kid Kapichi are back with their third album ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’. The Hastings based band have already managed to build a considerable following off the backs of their 2021 debut ‘This Time Next Year’, and 2022’s ‘Here’s What You Could Have Won’, even getting recognition from the likes of Liam Gallagher and Frank Carter. Now the band are back with a new dose of political-laced aggression that picks up where the last album left off.

The unapologetic clattering at the start of ‘Artillery’ kicks you straight into the new world of Kapichi, before a buzzing guitar riff pushes itself centre stage to remind you of what you’re here for – kick-ass punk rock. The song gives us our first taste of this album’s more polished sound compared to the last, which makes the songs feel massive despite maintaining a certain rough nature. I particularly love the bassline for the chorus of this track, which helps give the song a rallying cry nature.

Brexit was of course going to come up in this album, and ‘Can EU Hear Me?’ comes in a jaunty danceable track mid-album. The band say that their brief for this song was to “write the happiest Brexit song [they] can”, and they executed that mission perfectly. It’ll have you humming the chorus all day. Opposingly the doom and gloom of Brexit and the grave the Tories have dug for the country is covered within ‘Zombie Nation’. This song just feels special. The feature of Suggs’s first collab in over a decade, joined with its Ska nature makes this a must-listen song.

Elsewhere the album has songs like ‘Tamagotchi’, which will have you filled with 90s nostalgia. The song focuses on frontman Jack Wilson, reaching the big 3-0, and will have anyone born in the 90s reminiscing of the simpler times. Unfortunately the album isn’t perfect, and ‘Get Down’ really stands out as being the weakest track on this album. It doesn’t feel like it has the Kid Kapichi magic and just becomes stale across its run time. The album thankfully gets back on track quickly with ‘999’ which focuses on the distrust the Metropolitan police have built up following scandal after scandal.

While overall being a largely loud and shouty album, it equally has its more mellow moments, such as ‘Angeline’ and closer ‘Jimi’. The latter is a tender ballad dedicated to the late Hastings Musician, Jimi Riddle, who inspired Jack to pick up music as a teenager, while the former is a twisted love song.

Lyrically a kick in the face to fourteen years of Tory rule, Kid Kapichi have stayed fresh despite beating the same political drum (a drum that absolutely needs beating still, now more than ever). ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’ sees the band honing in on their sound whilst staying unapologetically themselves. The album gives an introspective look at the grey Britain of today, whilst maintaining hope that a revolution is around the corner. If you haven’t joined the Kid Kapichi train yet now would be a great time to hop aboard.