The Capitol Years
Meet Yr Acres
Full Frame / Poor Poor
We’re probably a bit late with this review, considering the album was actually released last year, but there you go, and with music like this, late is definitely better than ever. On this recording, The Capitol Years is, in effect, only one man, the splendidly named multi-instrumentalist Shai, Son of Eli, although you wouldn’t believe it from the massive, panoramic multitudes he introduces here. Taking his cue from psychedelic-era Beatles, everything late-‘60s Ashbury St., and modern-day bedroom/lo-fi aesthetics, Shai shares parts of his vision with the Elephant 6 collective, but tends to rely more heavily on the darker, eerier aspect of psych-pop/rock. Listen, for evidence, to the slow, churning “Supper” or the hypnotic “May.”
Not to say that this isn’t music for the long summer nights, because it is, but there is a lot of shade in this music as well, complementing the Super-8 quality of the music. And, in a track like the stunning “Faces And Beer,” there’s more than a hint of Big Star, meaning, basically, that it’s unbelievably good, really. One could probably argue that with music as seemingly disparate as this, there’s bound to be a sprawling, uneven quality to the it – however, our man Shai impressively binds it all together, his singular vision and idiosyncratic approach shining through everywhere on the album. And so, despite the apparent dependency on former artists’ musical glories, Shai manages to turn this into a highly personal and highly contemporary effort, which is nothing short of impressive. Unmissable.
Full Frame Records: http://www.fullframerecords.com
