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Shmap'n Shmazz
Studio album by Cap'n Jazz
Released	1995
Recorded	December 27–31, 1994
Studio	Idful, Chicago, Illinois
Genre	Midwest emo post-hardcore math rock
Length	31:19
Label	Man With Gun
Producer	Casey Rice
Cap'n Jazz chronology
Shmap'n Shmazz (1995) Analphabetapolothology (1998)

Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On, and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over, more commonly known as Shmap'n Shmazz, is the only full-length studio album by the American emo band Cap'n Jazz. It was released in 1995 on Man With Gun Records. Cap'n Jazz's lineup at the time of recording comprised Tim Kinsella on lead vocals, Davey von Bohlen and Victor Villarreal on guitar, Sam Zurick on bass guitar, and Mike Kinsella on drums.

The band was formed in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, where the members had met as teenagers in Wheeling High School. Influenced from the Midwestern punk scene, the band developed an idiosyncratic sound characterized by enigmatic wordplay chaotic guitar melodies, and vocals presented in a naive style, with Tim alternating from spoken word, singing, or shouting.

Despite garnering positive reviews within the local scene when released, the band disbanded mainly due to Victor suffering a non-lethal drug overdose during a tour. The album eventually went out of print for many years as the band members pursued other musical endeavors. When many of the band members' new projects gained attention in subsequent years, the success of their bands helped achieve the album to gain a cult following.

Shamp'n Shmazz is widely regarded by critics as a milestone of midwest emo, with it inspiring a multitude of artists and some claiming as one of the most influential emo albums of all time. Critics noted on the album's influence of bringing emo into a more widely accepted subset of indie rock. All of the album tracks were re-released on the band's anthology album Analphabetapolothology and Cap'n Jazz reunited in 2010 and 2017 to perform tracks on the album.

Background and production

In 1989, Tim Kinsella met Sam Zurick on the first day of school, where they got along due to their taste in music. Tim also meets Victor Villarreal while skateboarding at Wheeling High School. Victor introduces Tim to his band, Toe Jam. The band contained a neighbor of his, Jim, and the high school's star running back, Jeff. Tim joins the band as a guitarist. Sam decides to also join the band as a "roadie" of the band, and Tim's younger brother, Mike, joins as a rhythm guitarist. Despite these initial collaborations, the songs produced by the original lineup of Toe Jam failed to captivate Tim and Mike, who found the music "mundane."

Jim and Jeff decided to quit the band, but the remaining members still wanted to play in the band. The remaining members decided to create a complete overhaul. Sam decided to play bass guitar for the band, while Tim and Mike's mom purchased a drum kit for Mike. The band name was changed to "Cap'n Jazz" after Sam blurted the name while eating the cereal Cap'n Crunch with the band. The band decided to start touring and recording multiple extended plays. Davey von Bohlen later joined the band as a second guitarist, who played before in the band Ten Boy Summer. In 1994, Mark Corley, the owner of the record label 'Man With Gun,' persuaded Tim to record a full-length for the label. Tim accepted the deal, and the band decided to record an album.

The band recorded at Idful Music Corporation, owned by Brad Wood, and with Casey Rice. When recording for vocals, little thought was put into structure, which Tim said hindered his relearning of the lyrics. The band recorded the album during the final five days of 1994. Rehearsals of the album were often considered chaotic.

Composition and lyrics

Musically, the album has been described as Midwest emo, but Tim, at the time, believed it was more of a "weirdo punk band." The album has also been described as math rock and post-hardcore. Irregular instruments in emo and punk were used such as a french horn. AllMusic's Steve Huey describes the band as shifting from emo's musical focus of post-hardcore and post-punk to a more art punk style. Tim's vocals are usually characterized by it's naiveness and amateur singing, which became the band's focal points.

Lyrically, most of it was written by Tim. Pitchfork's Ian Cohen noted that the band focused on "shout first, process later." Tim claims that he made most of his lyrics when he took psilocybin mushroom for the first time. Bob Nanna is credited on the song "Yes, I Am Talking to You" for the line "I'm dying to tell you I'm dying." The band also credited Ryan Rapsys for the track "Precious" and also Kevin J. Frank for "¡Qué Suerté!" The lyrics ranged from inside jokes to abstruse lyrics that bordered gibberish. Devendra Banhart described Tim's work as attempting to be Arthur Rimbaud and "going to the zoo on quaaludes, but all the other animals are on speed." The album's title itself is two combined sentence fragments that written on the album's spine.

Release and promotion

The album was released in 1995 through Man With Gun Records. Despite its limited mainstream exposure, it garnered favorable reception within the local midwestern emo scene. In efforts to promote the album, the band embarked on a tour. However, at the time, Sam and Victor were addicted to drug to the point where both of them thought Tim was "straight edge due to not showing up on acid everyday at school." Despite concerns from other band members regarding their addiction, no action was taken to intervene.

After playing a show in the first week of the tour in Little Rock, Arkansas, Victor was by the other band members urinating all over himself and other equipment. Band members described the moment as terrifying due to his eyes being "rolled back" and how his body was "jitterily." The band transported Victor to an emergency room. The hospital confirmed that he suffered a non-lethal overdose of Ritalin.

Victor was released to the band members the morning after, although still unconscious. Many of the band members were conflicted on the course of action to do now with the band. While Davey and Tim advocated for canceling upcoming tour dates and continuing with the tour, Mike and Sam insisted on disbanding. Ultimately, the decision was made to disband Cap'n Jazz, leading to the end of the tour as the band members returned home. The break up of Cap'n Jazz hindered the album's promotion at the time and the album became out of print.

Several members pursued other musical endeavors following the dissolution, Davey would create The Promise Ring, Mike attended University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and form American Football at there, Tim would form Joan of Arc, and Victor would create with Sam Ghosts and Vodka.

Reception and legacy

Due to the band breaking up shortly after the release, the album received minimal attention from major publications upon its release. The band reissued their album including their extended plays and compilation albums compilation album on Jade Tree titled Analphabetapolothology. The album's tracks saw much more mainstream attention from the reissue. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny calling it "excellent" and Pitchfork's Nick Mirov calling it the "Holy Grail to the post-emo indie-rock world." Nick further praised Tim's vocal on how his lyrics "spill out of his mouth faster than he can pronounce them" and how the album was a "messy glory." The album was reissued due to many fans would contact the band members on how they could find their out-of-print records.

Later reviews of the album would call it influential to the Midwest emo genre. NME listed the album as one of "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test of Time". In Rolling Stone's list of the 40 greatest emo albums of all time, the album came in 7th, with Suzy Exposito writing that the album was "a significant blueprint for dozens of emo and post-hardcore acts to follow." "Little League" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.

Track listing

All music by Cap'n Jazz. All songs produced by Casey Rice.

Shmap'n Shmazz track listing

No.	Title	Lyricist	Length
1.	"Little League"	Tim Kinsella	3:56
2.	"Oh Messy Life"	Tim Kinsella	2:03
3.	"Puddle Splashers"	Tim Kinsella	2:03
4.	"Flashpoint: Catheter"	Tim Kinsella	3:24
5.	"In The Clear"	Tim Kinsella	1:57
6.	"Yes, I Am Talking To You"	Tim Kinsella Bob Nanna	2:36
7.	"Basil's Kite"	Tim Kinsella	2:36
8.	"Bluegrassish"	Tim Kinsella	1:08
9.	"Planet Shhh"	Tim Kinsella	2:59
10.	"The Sands've Turned Purple"	Tim Kinsella	2:45
11.	"Precious"	Ryan Rapsys Tim Kinsella	2:43
12.	"¡Qué Suerté!"	Tim Kinsella Kevin J. Frank	3:04
Total length:			31:19

Personnel

Cap'n Jazz

• Tim Kinsella – lead vocals
• Davey von Bohlen – guitars, backing vocals
• Victor Villarreal – guitars
• Sam Zurick – bass
• Mike Kinsella – drums

Additional personnel

• Anja Westerweck – backing vocals (on track 1)
• Casey Rice – tambourine (on tracks 1, 3), recording, mixing
• Kevin J. Frank – piano (on track 8)

References

Sources

• Cohen, Ian (2018-08-26). "Cap'n Jazz - Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped on, and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 2023-09-06. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
• Terry, Josh (2016-10-24). "Personal Playlist: Mike Kinsella tells stories behind 6 songs by American Football, Cap'n Jazz, Owls and more". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
• Gormley, Ian (2014-05-06). "Tim & Mike Kinsella You Can't Miss What You Forget". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
• Staple, Justin (2017-02-13). Your War (I'm One Of You): 20 Years Of Joan Of Arc (DVD). Noisey.
• Gill, Andrew (2010-10-07). Tim Kinsella reveals inspiration of Cap'n Jazz lyrics (Radio Broadcast). WBEZ. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
• Kinsella, Tim (1995). Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards In The Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On, And Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over (Liner notes). Man With Gun.
• Huey, Steve. "Cap'n Jazz Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
• Barker, Emily (January 14, 2015). "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test Of Time". NME. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
• Exposito, Suzy (March 1, 2016). "40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
• Cohen, Ian; Anthony, David; Corcoran, Nina; Garland, Emma; Nelson, Brad (February 13, 2020). "The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
• Kelley, Brendan (1998-02-05). "O Cap'n, My Cap'n". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
• Ankeny, Jason. "Analphabetapolothology Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
• Mirov, Nick (1998-12-31). "Cap'n Jazz: Analphabetapolothology". Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2024-02-10.