Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased tracks, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Captain of a Ship” by Three Blind Wolves from the 2012 album Sound of the Storm on Communion Records.
The story of how the album came about is best said on Three Blind Wolves’ Bandcamp page, but long story short, a wager to record an album in a day turned into a challenge that Glasgow’s Ross Clark took to heart. He wrote a 8 songs in two days, and with the help of the rest of the Wolves created the album that parented today’s featured song. Sound of the Storm is a bit punchier and folkier than the efforts of their recent tourmates, Frightened Rabbit, yet it’s as emotionally rousing as those of any of their Scottish contemporaries. “Captain of a Ship” is a great example of their sound -- after it opens with a calm, zen-like demeanor, the melody and rhythm rev up into a vocal chorus and an anthemic cavalcade (“I’m the captain of a ship that’s going down”) before acquiescing to its impending doom.
Currently, the UK is getting all the Three Blind Wolves’ love, but be sure to check for potential U.S. tour dates on their Facebook page. For now, here’s an acoustic version of another fan favorite, “Emily Rose”:
