August 30–September 6, 2001

music picks|rock/pop

The Capitol Years

Fuck the Beatles. Cram Abbey Road— its achingly catchy melodies, Ringo ’n’ Paul’s pronounced rhythmic jitters, John’s distortion-pedal angst and gutbucket holler, George’s Dylan fixation and the group’s unified disgust with one another — into a meat grinder and you’d get the leaner, meatier greasier snack of The Capitol Years. Lo-fi in the very best way (courtesy ex-Lilys Tom Monahan and Peter Humphries’ fuzzy mix on TCY’s debut CD, Meet Yr Acres, on Full Frame), guitarist/howler Shai Halperin and his fellow North Philly bandmates Kyle Lloyd and Dave Daniels have made a messy melodic masterpiece that’s scabby and tough and slow and tender in all the right places. Whether you dig the country swoop of "Rolling Hills" or the leering loop-laced rock of "Roller’s Now," you’ll find Halperin’s smirky vocals, huffy harmonica and trashy tuneful guitars most addictive. Raucous Track Star Record label locals The Holy Fallout and 1929 — due for a Silbreeze CD March 2002 — are no slouches when it comes to the growly melodic noise tip either. It’s all that shit Khyber/1929 guys Tyler Harold and Brendan Gallagher gotta put up with. Makes ’em nasty.

—A.D. Amorosi

Sat., Sept. 1, 10 p.m., $7, North Star, 27th and Poplar Sts., 215-684-0808, www.northstarbar.com.