The Capitol Years
National Eye, Silent Cinema

The Capitol Years
Philadelphia's The Capitol Years debuted in July 2001 with the homemade full-length, Meet Yr Acres.

Co-produced by Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Pernice Brothers, Beachwood Sparks), the self-released Meet Yr Acres spent much of 2001 innocently making its way around the globe while garnering a goldmine of critical accolades and regular comparisons to Beck, Bob Pollard, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan. All of this unexpected critical attention culminated in a spot on Magnet Magazine's "Top 10 Hidden Treasures" list.

Urged to leave the bedroom and share his music with a live audience, Halperin (aka Shai, Son of Eli) recruited Dave Wayne Daniels, Jeff Van Newkirk and Sir Kyle Lloyd on bass, guitar and drums, respectively. Immediately, The Capitol Years sought to do away with the 'one-man band' aesthetic of Meet Yr Acres and began concentrating on new material. With collective backgrounds in noise-rock as well as Beatle-esque pop, this full-band incarnation of The Capitol Years immediately generated a buzz in Philadelphia's growing music scene. Word quickly spread about this maniacal live band whose songcraft suggested Guided By Voices as much as their performances recalled The Who.

Ready to take their show to the national level, The Capitol Years set out on a series of U.S. tours, sharing the stage with bands as diverse as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Rooney, The Kills, Lilys, Daniel Johnston, Crooked Fingers, and Beachwood Sparks. Tours of the UK, Spain, and Israel followed, allowing the band to spread the buzz overseas.

In the midst of this frenzied touring, The Capitol Years sought to capture their live energy on tape and returned to the studio. They once again commissioned Monahan as well as Philadelphia's Brian McTear (Mazarin, A-Sides) to record their first full-band release: the 6 track EP, Jewelry Store. And while Jewelry Store documented The Capitol Years' garage rock tendencies, it also helped to set them apart from the crowd as it featured the goose-bump-inducing harmonies and melodies that typify The Capitol Years' sound. Sonically, the band had moved several worlds away from the subtle and sometimes lush Meet Yr Acres. But the critical praise continued…

In 2003, at the height of a national garage rock craze, The Capitol Years released their 'long lost' album, Pussyfootin. Originally recorded in 2001, it was another homemade and self-produced gem from their one-man band past. The album was as far removed from garage rock as one could travel with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, and its lush and country-tinged sound helped solidify the respect of local scribes. At year's end, and with their popularity rising, The Capitol Years were named Philadelphia Magazine's "Best Band of 2003."

Continued touring and television appearances, as well as a handpicked opening slot for The Pixies' first show in 12 years, have helped generate a significant buzz for one of Philadelphia's best bands.

In 2004 the band began recording its first true full-length and full-band album. Renting a house in the small town of Northampton, MA for two weeks, The Capitol Years and Thom Monahan created Let Them Drink. Byrds-like harmonies, Stooges riffs, and even ethereal Coldplay atmospherics coexist on Let Them Drink, a record that enjoyed success overseas as well as on American tv and radio.

A year later The Capitol Years began work on the forthcoming Dance Away the Terror, the most realized collection of songs and sounds the band has ever recorded. The self produced album marks a return to the Capitol Years own production style, featuring lush harmonies, interweaving piano and guitar hooks, and a homemade feel connected with so many listeners early in the band's career. The end result is certain to stand the test of tastes and time. Dance Away the Terror is set for release in 2006 on Park The Van Records.

National Eye 
In this bio, you will learn some helpful facts about Philadelphia music group NATIONAL EYE.  Of course, the only really important thing to know is that it's five guys (Will Baggott, Gianmarco Cilli, Doug Kirby, Rick Flom and Jeff Love) pulling music from out of themselves that seeks to describe and deepen the Mystery Of Life (which is really a murder mystery, since everybody dies).  That's the short of it, and here's the long:
 
They met at school in Colorado in the LATE NINETIES where they basically learned to play music with and from one another.  Many recordings were made -- hiss-soaked, hobbling mood-bursts that provided the framework for what they would eventually do when National Eye began nebulously taking shape several years later.  After college, they packed up for Philadelphia to continue to make music together.  It took a few years, but eventually they began to unwittingly forge a method and a style that would take full advantage of the members' disparate tastes and abilities.  Five guys met at the center of the Eye -- and recorded a bunch of great songs. 
 
The result of these endeavors, The Meter Glows appeared in 2003 -- which is essentially the birth of the band caught on tape, in the sense that before these songs started to coalesce in their headphone universe, there was no "National Eye" (strictly speaking).  The album contained 13 tracks of a startling variety, but all with a pathological devotion to sonic texture and emotional impact.  New York label Feel Records recognized its power (or its weirdness) (or its vast commercial potential) and released the album, despite the band's utter lack of live experience or reputation.  Good move.
 
Now that there was this document (The Meter Glows), the band set out into the world and began attempting to present the album's loping aural alleys on the stages of Philadelphia's lovely rock venues.  As they were figuring this out, they met some truly momentous musicians who had very much in common with our National Eye -- despite the fact that none of them sounded anything like National Eye (or each other).  But what the band found in those early, heady days was something they'd never really felt before -- a calibrated explosion of bands and artists who saw what the Eye was doing, supported it, and were trying to do something just as great.  This is an important part of the National Eye story if only because of the band's spirit of ego-less collaboration (who's the FRONT MAN? they're routinely asked) and they thrive on a sense of constant creative activity among diverse weirdos.
 
The band played and toured and strove and struggled and meanwhile started recording another album, again at home (though mostly in a different home).  When they finished tracking, they once again took the album to genius Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers, Silver Jews, Devendra Banhart) for mixing.  Just as he had done on The Meter Glows, he took the beautiful mess of the raw Eye, broke it down and built it up again to make it a beautiful non-mess.  Or a less messy mess.  The point is, the guy's contribution is hugely significant.
 
This brings us to National Eye's ambitious second album, Roomful of Lions: a cathedral of color noise & conversation -- fractured human history mixed with fractured human relations.  Where Meter was dense, Lions is expansive, providing a grander sonic architecture for the band's songs -- themselves offering a more nuanced and ambiguous moral universe. 

Subjects range from a mutinous Nazi plot to assassinate Hitler ("Abwehr"), a 15th Century saint ("Casimir"), Marvel comics ("Silver Agers"), and a childhood bully ("Lights").  No matter how far out they go, the songs are of a piece and describe a world not too dissimilar to our own, full of passion and death and birds and thieves and love and "men who casino."

Some of Philadelphia's greatest musical persons appear on Roomful of Lions -- Dr. Dog's Scott McMicken plays a fevered guitar solo on "Juno 3"; Eliza Hardy of the gorgeous Buried Beds provides vocals on "Drowned in Bed"; Chicago transplant Janet "Evil Janet" Kim brings oboe to "Juno 3;" and two of the geniuses behind Like Moving Insects, Todd Starlin and Joshua Marcus bring trumpet and vocals respectively to songs like "Lights" and "Silver Agers."

Roomful of Lions is being brought to the whole wide world by New Orleans record label Park the Van Records, who have been raiding Philadelphia's rockroll fridge of late, also putting out music by National Eye's friends Dr. Dog and The Teeth. The demented artwork was handled by West Philadelphia eccentric Walter Benjamin Smith II.

Silent Cinema
At the banks of the Mississippi river there is only quiet. The faint rustling of waves is the only sound in grasp, save the intermittent bellowing growls of steamboats. Eight feet below sea level. Balconies and yellow fever. This is where Silent Cinema was born. At eighteen years of age Micah McKee became aware of this quiet. obsessed even. And after many months of laboriously pasting together songs in his bedroom in the dark hours of the morning, Fortune turned his fickle head and took notice of the boy. In an almost frightening sort of instance of chance, Mckee stumbled upon Mike Rodriguez, a fellow university student and songwriter. Rodriguez hailed from the state of Oklahoma, home to wandering plains and Kaiser's diner, which houses the best milkshake on earth. Rodriguez, who could play just about any instrument known to man, worked with McKee to breathe life into the songs he'd written. After months of conjuring up melodies, Silent Cinema had finally come into existence.

But alas, nothing gold can stay. Mike Rodriguez, as he'd planned to do, moved back to the Midwest and worked on his projects there, leaving McKee with the task of rearranging the newborn band. And just like that, out of what had to be nowhere, three faeries (or ghosts maybe) came from some hidden cavern to lay their spell upon the Silent Cinema. Brandon Bunch would play bass, enveloping the music with deep hums, thickening the thin. Matthew Glynn played drums, not to mention a plethora of other instruments, including his beloved Telecaster, which shone like the Mexican sun. And there was the young Sam Craft, whose violin playing displayed wisdom beyond his tender years. Later, the unparalleled Mike Blum lent his harnessing of the howling lap steel to the young band of troubadours. Yes, it had finally come together. In august of 2003, Mckee reunited with Mike Rodriguez to record their first record Fiction in a matter of days. They were proud of their little record, and it was finally released in April on Bound and Gagged records, which is now based in Minneapolis.

Exactly a year later, Silent Cinema recorded their second album Rain in Chris George’s New Orleans studio the Living Room. Rain is a greatly realized vision of their sound—delicate and atmospheric, quiet yet unable to be ignored. On Rain, Silent Cinema becomes a band that represents the summation of rock and roll history, borrowing just as much from Sigur Ros as they do from Dylan. They become a folk band unbound by the constraints of traditional folk music. In “Exile” a cello becomes the echo of the bassline, unifying the song melodically. In “Voice” a ghostly choir drives a glorious country waltz. This new record is the one that Silent Cinema has been waiting patiently to make, and sets them apart from other folk bands playing music today.

Silent Cinema has recently added three new members to its ever-changing and revolving cast. Martin Klein on guitar and other instruments, Jack Kennedy on bass, and Jason Caldarera on drums.

Silent Cinema has been fortunate enough to grace the stage with acts like Songs:Ohia, Mark Kozolek, Via Satelllite, Summer Hymns, Anna Oxygen, and the Desert Fathers, to name a few.

as we speak, there are bombs exploding and earthquakes shaking the foundation of the earth. there are screams from deserts calling for sanctuary and hope. volcanos erupt. trees shatter. in times like these Silent Cinema wants quiet to win. it must win.

the river is calm. may the ghosts of men who drowned here take us home.