Keith Caputo - A Fondness For Hometown Scars

Jul 21 2008 By Paul Cole

(Suburban)

HE’S hit the headlines recently as the leading contender for the Velvet Revolver vacancy but there’s much more to the former metal merchant than meets the eye. Caputo, once Life Of Agony’s confrontational frontman, has crafted a stunning solo album that visits rock, pop, folk and even late-night jazz.

Both Troubles Down and Devils Pride sound so spookily like Slash & Co – all rock swagger and attitude – that you’ll be checking the liner notes for Velvet verification. But In This Life is their polar opposite, the sort of soft harmony pop you might expect from Cosmic Rough Riders.

Don’t let some of Caputo’s summery strums deceive you, though. There’s often a darkness in the lyrics, sentiments that creep up on you like a serial-killing stalker. There’s a spacey Pink Floyd feel to opener Crawling; In December could be Coldplay with bite; both Nothing To Lose and Got Monsters nod to singer-songwriter Tom McRae.

This is an outstanding set of songs to further confound expectation. Few could have guessed that Caputo would have come up with a classic pop album.