Cap'n Jazz

Cap'n Jazz is an American band formed in 1989 in Chicago by brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella. Starting out as a raw, chaotic garage punk outfit, the band quickly became one of the founding acts of what would later be called midwest emo, mixing post-hardcore aggression with unpredictable time signatures and Tim Kinsella's yelped, cryptic lyrics. Their sound was frantic and joyful at once, full of stop-start dynamics and melodic guitar interplay that influenced countless bands in the genre.

The group's only proper studio album, Shmap'n Shmazz, came out in 1995, shortly before the band split. Songs like «Little League», «Basil's Kite» and «Oh Messy Life» later became beloved touchstones of the emo underground, and the compilation Analphabetapolothology gathered nearly all of the band's scattered recordings, split singles and unreleased material for a wider audience discovering them retroactively.

After the breakup, Mike Kinsella went on to form American Football, one of the genre's most iconic acts, while Tim Kinsella founded Joan of Arc. Cap'n Jazz reunited for Riot Fest in 2010 and again in 2017, and returned once more in 2024 for Best Friends Forever Fest, cementing their legacy as a foundational influence on emo and indie rock.