Capitola Coast – Friday Project (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Most of the time, I spend the working day writing about the seasoned hands—the polished performers of the grassroots scene who have put in their miles and earned their stripes. And in doing so, it’s easy to forget how it all begins. Before the accolades, before the reputations are made and names become revered, every musician starts the same way: you hook up with a few like-minded souls, bash out some songs, get yourself a gig or two, and learn your art by getting up on stage and giving it your all. It’s chaotic, it’s uncertain, and it’s how every band grows up in public.

“Capitola Coast“ is the sound of that process in action, or at least the studio record of it. Not the tired parade of a band going through the motions, nor the dead-eyed sonic stare of players phoning it in. This is the sound of ambition sharpened by hunger, of a song written from the gut and played as if this might be the one and only chance for Friday Project to prove themselves. It’s raw, it’s urgent, it’s alive—and it’s absolutely glorious.

It is also the sound of a band that understands that you don’t need to suckerpunch the audience to get their attention, that you can blend finesse with fire, poise can be balanced with pace, and that clever indie-pop weaves, (with just enough rock grit to remind us that it is that rawness that is the basis of all pearls) are just as effective as volume and velocity. Perhaps more so.

“Capitola Coast” is a great song and a tantalising taste of a full album to come. But the most extraordinary aspect of all of this is that this Oakville trio is the fact that all of this has been created by a band who are just sixteen. Imagine where they will be and what they might be doing a year, two years, five, ten, or twenty years from now.