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JEWELRY
STORE REVIEWS II MEET YR ACRES
REVIEWS II PUSSYFOOTIN REVIEWS
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE (RS 914) Shai Halperin's debut as Capitol Years (Meet Yr Acres, 2001) was a solo affair, made in his Philadelphia home. The quartet kicks here are a big leap in thrills: a dash of Beck in Halperin's voice and hooks, the twin-guitar grind of the Strokes. The six songs were cut in a week. The pleasure lasts much longer. - David Fricke Philadelphia City Paper 11.14.02 Almost all the press about The Capitol Years' first record -- a rocking, eclectic piece of work from 2001 called Meet Yr Acres -- reads like Mad Libs for Music Critics: Beck and Dylan steal George Harrison's corpse from The Clash and sell it to Robert Pollard. Which is fine; the Caps were just getting started on that CD, and maybe wore their influences on their T-shirts. Now the band is a full-on freakout powerhouse of guitars, drums and catchy choruses, and the sound on their new EP, Jewelry Store, comes off like they invented it. Singer/guitarist Shai Halperin, once a "four-track recluse" apparently, is these days a bold, ballsy songwriter and a charismatic performer. Jewelry Store is six garage-rockin' songs designed for high-volume shout-alongs and dancing in the aisles. - Patrick Rapa Philadelphia Weekly 11.13.02 The Capitol Years, originally the solo project of Philly four-tracker Shai Halperin, grew legs after Halperin's Meet Yr Acres met critical success in 2001. With added flesh, the lo-fi wantonness of the album turned into a big, sweaty rock party. Not a bad thing, of course, but with added personnel the "sad odes to thy self" seemed so self-absorbed, and their live shows discarded the mid-'90s nostalgia and moved toward a more modern rock. New music for a new outlook is the subtext of Jewelry Store, the Full Frame/Poor Poor Records EP being toasted at this Khyber party. From the first snarling guitar, delivered from a pristine multitrack, comes a confidence so infectious it will remind you of the first moment you hated loving the Strokes. Gone are Halperin's swooping basement boy vocals and vintage songster fetish--it's all staccato attack, ramblin' rock delivery and an occasional moptopped "whoo" as one of a few sonic batons to the past. It's 10 years of growin' up in two with little pain and all party, something showgoers will no doubt feel from the first big-muffed moment. - Daphne Carr Village Voice This Philly band turned singer-songwriter Shai Halperin's no-fi, 4 track fold doodles into full-blast retro-pop illustrations on their most recent EP, Jewelry Store. Their songs make the requisite style checks where they're supposed to-and with the most clever, apt name this side of Chapel Hill. They don't sound anything like Interpol, but that band should take heed; this is how to write a song! Suite101.com A long, long time ago—back when I was a hotshot rookie in the Entertainment Today clubhouse—I chose Meet Yr Acres from The Capitol Years as my first review for the paper. It was a great, genre-blurring album—sometimes messy, always melodic—and my favorite songs were the quiet ones. Road trip songs. Last beer songs. Then I went down to San Diego to see the band in concert. Their label warned me. Frontman Shai Halperin himself warned me: Things on the album are not necessarily how they appear on the stage. And sure enough, while I was expecting acoustics and maybe an occasional harmonica, instead I got a spastic rock and roll spanking. The Capitol Years—Halperin especially—played the little club like it was the Coliseum, stomping, screaming, posing and leaping. “Who’s this guy think he is?” some stiff at the bar asked. “Roger Daltrey?” Probably not, but Halperin could be forgiven for having an identity crisis. Critics, myself included, found all sorts of delicious parallels on the first album. He was Beck...no, Robert Pollard...no, a Harrison and McCartney hybrid. The influences were there for all to see. Capitol Years make it little harder on the critics with Jewelry Store, which dispenses entirely with the slower numbers and charges ahead with grungy retro pop. It takes about three spins through the 20 minute EP for the balls-to-the-walls guitar riffs and delirious shouts of “wooo!” to take you and your subconscious hostage. Producers Thom Monahan (whose credits include L.A. alt-country faves Beachwood Sparks) and Brian McTear capture an impressive chunk of the band’s frenetic live energy. They also deserve kudos for knowing when to stay out of the way; there’s not a slick or overproduced moment on the album. Aquarius Records, SF An absolutely smokin' new EP from Philadelphia's Capitol Years, whose Meet Yr Acres debut was a favorite of ours back in 2001. On that record my favorite songs were the two slow pretty ones, but after having seen Capitol Years live twice I've been totally converted to their rollicking rock heart -- and this new EP is comprised of six absolutely perfect upbeat tracks. This band plays psychedelic pop music with a totally infectious manic punk energy and in a perfect world they would be more popular than the Strokes... with whom they share a certain changa changa guitar sound, but Capitol Years are clearly far more naturally talented. Unforgettable pop hooks galore on each and every song! Should appeal equally to the indiepop-minded Strokes fan in you as well as the Nuggets-lovin' Ptolemaic Terrascope psychster you are behind closed doors! Highly recommended! Contender for Windy's favorite pop album of the year. Entertainment Weekly 11.15.02 "GIMME FIVE - Choice cuts for your mix tape" THE CAPITOL YEARS "Jewelry Store" (from the Jewelry Store EP) A mod-pop nugget, with nicely retro production by Pernice Brother Thom Monahan. Entertainment Today 12.06.02 Philadelphia has one of the most exciting up-and-coming music scenes in the country right now, and it must be amazing to go out drinking in the hipster hangouts of Manayunk nowadays. Walk in, and at one end of the bar you’ll find the shimmery pop-lovin’ Wise and Foolish Builders holding court, occasionally throwing bits of popcorn at slavering-fangs metalheads the Burning Brides, clustered at the other end. And lounging on stools somewhere in the middle, from time to time called upon to mediate disputes over whether to play Rufus Wainwright or Motorhead on the jukebox, sit the four boys from the Capitol Years, whose new EP indicates that they’d be equally comfortable kickin’ back to either. That’s right, imagine the Beatles playing with a kind of slash-and-burn intensity, kicking out the jams and cumming on feeling the noize like the best and sometimes cheesiest rock and rollers around, and you’ll have some idea of the rock-history-run-through-a-blender feel of the Jewelry Store EP. Songwriter Shai Halperin has crafted six exquisite little songs, letting it roll, baby, roll with the Doors-ish title track and slicing-and-dicing what could be Velvet Underground riffs on “Train Race.” And “Japanese Store,” with its angular rhythms, would make for a great New Wave tune if producer Thom Monahan, best known for his work with the Pernice Brothers, hadn’t recorded it like something out of late-’70s Detroit. The Capitol Years aren’t long out of their garage, but they’ll be playing much bigger rooms before too long, and rest assured these tunes will fill them just fine. - Steven Hanna Diyreporter.com 1.22.03 The Beatles are never far from us, as witnessed by Philadelphia garage-rockers The Capitol Years. Frontman Shai Halperin (aka Shai, Son Of Eli) channels Lennon's sardonic rasp as his bandmates echo Harrison's pop jangle, Ringo's signature beats, and the Fab Four's goose-pimple inducing harmonies. But "Jewelry Store" is more than phony Beatlemania run amuck. It's catchy, adrenaline-fueled garage-rock, with Dave Wayne Daniels' bouncing bass lines anchoring infectious, head-wagging melodies that seem much more alive than the sterile, soulless posturing of so many of today's neo-garagesters. Produced by Halperin and Thom Monahan (who helped engineer the sparkling neo-psychedelic sound of the Beachwood Sparks), "Jewelry Store" captures the cheery lo-fi vibe of "Meet The Beatles" without sacrificing any of the energy of the Capitol Years' bravura live performances, which have propelled them to the forefront of Philly's back-from-the-dead music scene. Roll over, Mooney Suzuki, and tell the Strokes the news, there's a new garage band on the prowl who know how to shake it up. - Jim Testa Tokion In first listen, a bit reminiscent of The Strokes (not a bad thing). After Repeated spins, Capitol Years play old-fashioned rock n' roll that draws from a broader pool. Hints of the British Invasion, '60s garage, '70s punk and of course that Reed/ Casablancas vocal quaver. Plus you can tell these guys kick ass live, unlike those thrice referenced superstars. Synthesis.net The mop top re-invasion has begun, and there's no doubt that this particular four-piece from Philly is getting attention in at least some small part because they fit into what's being called the "new" rock movement. And as with any ongoing media capitalization of a trend, there are good bands and bad bands. This is one of the good ones. Though this is only a six-track release, it is a prime example of a group that obviously understands the nuances of not only pounding out simple chord progressions in lo-fi tones, but also employing tenets of pop and rock songwriting to thicken the final product. Songs like "Lucky Strike," "Japanese Store" and "Train Race" showcase a pop sensibility and inventive approach to construction blended deftly with a power chord aesthetic - it's both brains and brawn, serious fun. - Max Sidman George Parson's DREAM Magazine #4 Philadelphia's Capitol Years make a precise enthused and intense '60s influenced pop. With finely honed mechanical tightness, and really interesting songs to make it all worthwhile. Has me thinking of similar exercises by names like Jellyfish, Lucky Bishops, Guided By Voices, MK Ultra, The Posies, The Move, and John Vanderslice. Sounds like they could really smoke in a live setting, but they really rock here and some sort of wider fame and acclaim seems inevitable. |
