When a humpback whale headlunges, it’s on the verge of breaching the water’s surface, but doesn’t fully emerge. Austin’s electro-pop scene swims the same cusp. Capyac’s debut LP Headlunge represents a valiant endeavor to bring the genre to the forefront, but even though Delwin Campbell and Eric Peana pull off nonstop dance parties in clubs, their premiere disc evinces much to learn still. Each track pulses all the necessary components to be phenomenal – a symphony of synths, funk guitar, and a myriad of sampled sounds and addictive hooks (“Talk About”) – but flagrant repetition plagues a majority of the tracks. Their impact wanes as the melodies loop for the fifth or sixth time. Still, Headlunge symbolizes a culmination of Capyac’s funky nu-disco revolution, with “Disco Muse” and “Speedracer” exhibiting the promise of a bright future for electronic dance music in this city. Capyac and electro pop might be headlunging right now, but they’ll breach.
This article appears in June 3 • 2016.