The Capitol Years - Jewelry Store (Feel, 2003)

The Capitol Years
Jewelry Store
Feel
2003

Rating: 7.5 armed robberies out of 10

I read all the praise and press for the first release by The Capitol Years, "Meet Yr Acres". Lots of people loved it, but it just never caught for me. A little too meandering, not enough direction, perhaps? I dunno. Not that it was awful or anything, just...eh. So when I got this to review, I was expecting more of the same. The bright side was that it’s only an EP, so at least listening to it a few times won’t take that long, right? Fortunately, this album is pretty good...real good even. Chock full of catchy hooks, fuzzy guitars, upbeat rhythms - this is the type of music I think of when I think of what rock-n-roll should sound like. Now, after listening to it a few times, I’m bummed it’s an EP - at just under 20 minutes, it definitely leaves me wanting more.

The big change for the band seemed to come when it was transformed from "one man recording songs on a four-track in his bedroom" to "full on rock band with bassists and drummers and the such". This was just what this band needed - they already had the songs, and now they have the performers to flesh out the sound. All six songs pack a wallop from start to finish, almost leaving you gasping for air by the time the disc stops playing.

I’m not sure if it’s because both bands are from Philadelphia or just a coincidence, but this album reminds me a whole hell of a lot of The Lilys, only with a little more fuzz thrown in for good measure. Comparisons can also be drawn to other power-pop outfits such as Sloan or Superdrag, and if you read any other reviews you'll probably hear references to The Strokes. All of these are fair comparisons.