Ever since Mesa-area band Captain Squeegee formed in 2002, it has dodged musical genres. Combining ska, blues and rock influences, the band creates a trademark mind-boggling sound which has gained it quite the local following.
"Nothing vs Everything," the band's 2008 debut full-length album, won over fans with an insane blend of horns, lyrical innovation and high-energy guitar.
Now, Captain Squeegee plans to take over Crescent Ballroom with a CD release show for its long-awaited album, "To The Bardos!" on Dec. 5 with Twin Ponies and Instructions.
Lead singer Danny Torgerson said the band was more than ready to release the new album after a combination of years of writing and rehearsing, a total band transformation and a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $10,000.
"We had the music, and we had the drive and passion, but we really just needed everything to come together at the end, and it did," Torgerson said.
As a band that initially identified itself with a mash-up genre of ska/punk music, Captain Squeegee's evolution — because of its deviation from retaining original members — has produced a sound previously unknown to Phoenix.
Torgerson said he views today's line up as the third or fourth reincarnation of Captain Squeegee.
"I don’t know how we got to where we did, but it just had to happen," Torgerson said.
Guitarist and keyboardist Austen Mack said that the Nov. 12 release of "To the Bardos!" marked another step in the band's musical evolution.
"We’ve got some new members," Mack said, "We’ve got a new approach to creating our songs." Wayne Jones of Twin Ponies said he thinks Captain Squeegee's "To The Bardos!" is another clear example of the band's grasp of the genre.
"They've always been good doing this orchestrated kind of rock thing," Jones said.
Released with Phoenix-based record company 80/20 Records, the band's growing fanbase devoured it.
"I knew we had a good following, but it didn’t know it was so big, and I didn’t know it was that committed," Mack said. "People really came through for us, and without that, we really could not have made it happen."
Torgerson said watching the success of his crowdfunding process was intense.
"That was probably the closest thing to skydiving we've ever done," Torgerson said.
Despite the fact that Torgerson actually has skydived before — as bandmate Mack reminded him — he said the experiences were comparable.
Now that Captain Squeegee's evolutionary process is complete, its fans should be able to relate.
"We’re all kind of music nerds, and I think a lot of our fans are," Torgerson said.
Captain Squeegee will play at the Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix on Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. Check out the band's Bandcamp to download "To The Bardos!"
Reach the reporter at aovnicek@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @aovnicek
