“So Embarrassing” (CD)
May 1st 2009

Listen / Buy

01. Gambit
02. Pocket Protection Is Essential
03. Elevator Fuck
04. Placebo Or Panacea
05. Bloody Nose
06. Badlands
07. Paperweights
08. Father Of Mine
09. The Chaperone
10. Sexy Koala
11. Self-Released

Jonathan Pfeffer, the mastermind behind this sadistic avant-pop-group from New York and Philadelphia (USA), likes thinking that his music “treads a fine line between economic innovation and commercial suicide”.
Anyway, Pfeffer composes some of the most stimulating music in contemporary rock.

“So Embarrassing” is the product of Pfeffer’s relentless attention to detail. Intricate structures develop from chaotic forms. Melodies burst from hidden nooks and crannies. Dense walls of sound stretch, bend, fall apart and come back together, only to fall apart again. The whole affair is executed with pinpoint precision by the CAPILLARY ACTION live band and a 9-piece-orchestra of strings, horns and classical percussion.
“So Embarassing” crosses neurotic mathrock with progressive jazz and new music, the furor of an electric guitar with the melodic expressivity of a Fender Rhodes.

CAPILLARY ACTION spent three years crafting “So Embarrassing” and this monster of an album represents having the courage to walk straight into an uncomfortable situation and risk everything to say what needs to be said. By not being afraid to express the taboo, this music pushes listeners to confront their own struggles with a unique approach: A philosophy of embarrassment as a means of personal growth.

We are deeply shocked…

A kick upside the head is probably less jarring than ‘So Embarrassing’. But there’s more to the album than battery; singer, guitarist and mastermind Jonathan Pfeffer injects Mike Patton-worthy weirdness and Battles-level complexity into the band’s hyper-melodic, jazz-lacerated music.
THE ONION AV

Pfeffer’s even, baritone vocals add a strong melodic center for the listener and the instrumental freakouts in context. ‘So Embarrassing’ is a bold change in direction for Capillary Action, but one that pays off.
PITCHFORK MEDIA

Capillary Action harness the power of the best of Zappa’s more rocking efforts, combining excellent jazz chops with punk energy, making complicated arrangements sound natural.
EXCLAIM

A bastion of avant-rock futurism.
THE STRANGER

A gem of an album from a band that abides by a musical manifesto that is
miles above and beyond the norm.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ

Call it ‘experimental rock’ if you must, but ‘So Embarrassing’ is way past the experimentation stage. Capillary Action knows exactly what it’s doing.
PREFIX MAG

No matter how many times “So Embarrassing” is played you will never hear it the same way.
DELUSIONS OF ADEQUACY

‘So Embarrassing’ is an album that will continue to reveal secrets long after the rest of your record collection has blown its load.
SOUND AS LANGUAGE

Thrilling maximalism that has me rubbing my hands with glee straight away.
ORGAN MAGAZINE (Album of the Week)

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