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 -- along with
Pinkerton-era
Weezer, they helped shift emo's always-elusive musical focus from post-hardcore prog-punk to an arty but more accessible punk-pop. 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 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 (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. Frontman
Tim Kinsella's cryptic wordplay and naïve, amateurish vocals became the group's focal points; although some found those traits polarizing, they gave
Cap'n Jazz a distinct personality.
During the early '90s, the band recorded several singles for tiny independent labels, and also contributed tracks to several indie and emo compilations. In 1995, they issued their first and only album, Shmap'n Shmazz, on the tiny, poorly distributed Man With Gun label; the album also had an incredibly lengthy alternate title, which most fans ignored. It quickly became a collector's item. Not long after its release,
Cap'n Jazz disbanded to pursue other projects. In 1998, three years after the band's breakup, the Jade Tree label assembled a generous double-disc
Cap'n Jazz retrospective titled
Analphabetapolothology. It contained the band's complete recorded works -- the entirety of Shmap'n Shmazz, material from their early singles and split releases, compilation tracks, unreleased demos and outtakes, and several songs from their farewell concert in Chicago.
Davey von Bohlen maintained the highest profile of any ex-
Cap'n Jazzer, moving to Milwaukee and founding
the Promise Ring, which became one of the most popular emo bands of the '90s; he also fronted the acoustic-oriented side project
Vermont.
Tim Kinsella founded
Joan of Arc, which fused emo and avant-garde post-rock in adventurous and sometimes difficult ways, and also included
Mike Kinsella and
Sam Zurick at various times. In between drumming gigs behind his brother,
Mike Kinsella went on to front his own emo projects,
American Football and, later, the mostly solo
Owen.
Victor Villareal was the quietest, resurfacing in the mostly instrumental Ghosts and Vodka, which also featured
Zurick. Following
Joan of Arc's breakup in 2001,
Tim Kinsella reunited with all the former members of
Cap'n Jazz -- except for
von Bohlen, who was still committed elsewhere -- under a new name, Owls; the quartet released an album that year.
Kinsella subsequently began a new outfit, Friend/Enemy, which later included
Zurick. Another reunion occurred in 2010, complete with concert dates and a reissue of
Analphabetapolothology. ~ Steve Huey