[01.03] I read all the praise and press for the Capitol Year's first release, 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.

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? But fortunately, this album is good. Real good. Chock full of catchy hooks, fuzzy guitars, upbeat rhythms—this is the type of music I think of when I think of rock n' roll. Now, after listening to it a few times, I'm bummed it's only 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. In my book, this transformation was just what the band needed—they 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 (hint: don't hold your breath, it'll help on the gasping for air part).

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 may no doubt hear references to The Strokes. I think this is probably due to both bands being heavily influenced by the psychedelic rock from the '60s such as Velvet Underground and all those bands from the Nuggets box sets.

Even though it was released at the end of last year, I'm going to consider this the first great release of 2003. I may even have to dig out their old CD and see if it sounds any better to me now, after having heard this terrific, short little gem. —Jake