The Capitol Years have always essentially been frontman Shai Halperin's solo project. His lo-fi, pop underground nuggets have been lauded by home recording aficionados and critics alike, resulting in a string of hastily assembled releases that -- while undeniably delicious -- have never really worked as a whole. From the very beginning,
Let Them Drink lays that notion to waste, relying on a cohesive blend of intelligent '60s rock and power pop that sounds like an extension of
New Pornographer A.C. Newman's
Slow Wonder as played by
Cheap Trick. The band is tight -- the Capitol Years did open for the reunited
Pixies -- and the songs are just ramshackle enough to demand the extra attention that they need to sink in. "Juicers," with its infectious and pulsating chorus, is the perfect opener; it's catchy enough to get its barbs in and opaque enough to keep the listener looking around the corner for the next hook. "Solid Gold" is like a
Sloan sandwich with
Neil Young in the middle, "Lucky" is all
White Stripes without the attitude, and the glorious title cut is the best track that
Minus 5 never recorded. It may be impossible to fully extract the Capitol Years themselves from the genre in which they'll inevitably be placed in -- garage rock revival -- but as far as smart, hook-filled songcraft goes,
Let Them Drink is up there with the best that the scene has to offer. ~ James Christopher Monger