See all 11 pictures

Play Cap'n Jazz Radio

Cap'n Jazz

2,013,083 plays (75,184 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

544 shouts

Add to my Library Share

Chicago, United States (1989 – 1995)

Short-lived but highly influential, Cap’n Jazz helped transform emo from a deeply underground punk subgenre into a more widely accepted subset of indie rock. Not terribly popular or well-known outside of the Midwest, Cap’n Jazz’s main contribution was stylistic. They helped shift midwest-emo’s always-elusive musical focus from post-hardcore prog-punk to an arty but more accessible pop-punk.

Their discography was as scant as it was rare, but that very obscurity helped build their underground legend through word of mouth, until a double-CD retrospective was finally issued several years after their breakup. By that time, most of the members had moved on to other, better-known midwest-emo bands, most notably Joan of Arc and the highly successful Promise Ring , which helped spread Cap’n Jazz’s influence far beyond their original audience.

The first incarnation of Cap’n Jazz was formed in Chicago circa 1989, when brothers Tim Kinsella (guitar, vocals) and Mike Kinsella (drums) teamed up with bassist Sam Zurick and guitarist Victor Villareal ; all were still in school at the time. The band went through several name changes and added guitarist Davey von Bohlen , but took a few years to get serious about pursuing music. Eventually, they earned a cult following around Chicago and the Midwest, honing a sound that was at once complicated and sloppily enthusiastic.

Tagged as:

emo, indie, indie rock, post-punk, post-hardcore
See more…

Similar Artists

Top Albums

Analphabetapolothology
Cap'n Jazz
Buy at Merch Now ($12.00)
Analphabetapolothology (disc 1)
Cap'n Jazz
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Analphabetapolothology (disc 2)
Cap'n Jazz
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Kites ...
Cap'n Jazz
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search

Top Tracks

1	Winter Wonderland full track	1,107
2	Oh Messy Life full track	753
3	Little League free download	745
4	Puddle Splashers full track	532
5	In the Clear full track	506
6	Basil's Kite full track	463
7	Yes, I Am Talking to You full track	442
8	Flashpoint: Catheter full track	438
9	Planet Shhh full track	378
10	Ooh do I Love You full track	377
11	Take On Me full track	373
11	Bluegrassish full track	373
13	Precious full track	326
14	Que Suerte! full track	297
15	Tokyo full track	248

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

UntilYouReform wrote:
Wednesday evening

Soooooo excited for the reunion!

View Profile | Leave UntilYouReform a shout
Llamahz wrote:
Tuesday evening

0 Were mine. i'm proud of it. xD

View Profile | Leave Llamahz a shout
MilktronicBeats wrote:
Tuesday morning

100 of those were mine. nathan's got ears of steel, kind of like duke nukem's balls

View Profile | Leave MilktronicBeats a shout
ShmapnShmazz wrote:
Saturday afternoon

600 of those winter wonderland plays are mine. this was a very painful Christmas.

View Profile | Leave ShmapnShmazz a shout
MilktronicBeats wrote:
7 days ago

"Avey Tare should take Davey's place." um what

View Profile | Leave MilktronicBeats a shout
Cassafrasss wrote:
8 days ago

if anything were to ever be beautiful it would be cap'n jazz.

View Profile | Leave Cassafrasss a shout
RyanAlexanderB wrote:
10 days ago

we don't believe in failure. young human beings, put the flame hat on before it's too late.

View Profile | Leave RyanAlexanderB a shout
Bockop wrote:
11 days ago

Avey Tare should take Davey's place.

View Profile | Leave Bockop a shout
Llamahz wrote:
12 days ago

YOO GOT ME COUGHIN UP MY COOKIE HEARTTTTT

View Profile | Leave Llamahz a shout
NailsChan wrote:
12 days ago

HHHEEEEEYYY COFFFEEE EYYES

View Profile | Leave NailsChan a shout
lastcity wrote:
12 days ago

I agree with giraffe_knees and classicsickness. plus all the band is probably really busy.

View Profile | Leave lastcity a shout
deepfreeze98 wrote:
12 days ago

i think it will sound just fine

View Profile | Leave deepfreeze98 a shout
classicsickness wrote:
13 days ago

i don't think the reunion will be that great because it seems like bands throw away their old philosophies when they reunite. they just become hypocritical. sunny day real estate would be an example of this. their shows used to be underground and like $5 admission. when they reunited they played major venues and sold $35 tickets.

View Profile | Leave classicsickness a shout
oddsmiles wrote:
15 days ago

too bad i live in brazil. probably the closest i'll get to this reunion is youtube.com. still awesome, though. i'd really like to see them play little league, puddle splashers, ooh do i love you and so many others. but i'd be kinda disappointed if they released any new material under the name of Cap'n Jazz.

View Profile | Leave oddsmiles a shout
ryanjquinn wrote:
16 days ago

oh my god. I'm sure they could totally pull it off. I'm pumped.

View Profile | Leave ryanjquinn a shout
scottirvine wrote:
19 days ago

Davey is involved.

View Profile | Leave scottirvine a shout
liquidphil wrote:
19 days ago

Fap'n Jazz

View Profile | Leave liquidphil a shout
giraffe_knees wrote:
21 days ago

not too keen. the reason they were so great was because it was a bunch of sweaty teenagers playing messy indie rock; almost a boyish charm. thats kinda gone now. also, its unlikely that davey is gonna be involved...which sucks as he was sorta the magic piece.

View Profile | Leave giraffe_knees a shout
zachinvain wrote:
23 days ago

I pooped in my pants

View Profile | Leave zachinvain a shout
TimmyJames wrote:
23 days ago

!!!!

View Profile | Leave TimmyJames a shout

See all 544 shouts

Videos

Listeners

NonMetalDude
Listening now
to Que Suerte
microscopichum
Listening now
to Puddle Splashers
BlablaInsane
Listening now
to Take On Me
ShmapnShmazz
Top Listener
exsrocks1
Top Listener
lucus00
Top Listener

Recent Activity

warters, jooperloop, souterraine and 3 other people added Cap'n Jazz to their libraries. 1 minute ago
lastcity tagged Cap'n Jazz with ‘emo’. Thursday morning
T3hLibrarian and tren68 added Cap'n Jazz to their libraries. Thursday morning
Me_vs_Hero tagged Cap'n Jazz with post-hardcore, indie and emo. Thursday morning
jamreu, saltalamafia, kjax326 and 1 other person added Cap'n Jazz to their libraries. Wednesday evening
GehSmile tagged Cap'n Jazz with ‘indie emo’. Wednesday afternoon
myleftventricle and sisforsmithers added Cap'n Jazz to their libraries. Wednesday morning
Raccoonology tagged Cap'n Jazz with post-hardcore, indie rock and indie. Tuesday evening
Raccoonology added Cap'n Jazz to Raccoonology’s library. Tuesday evening
xx_inge_xx wrote about Cap'n Jazz in The Best Of 2009. Tuesday evening