Authentic Philly-style sounds

Music Row
By Brian Rademaekers

It’s a good time to be a local music fan in Philadelphia.
For those who have been keeping a pulse on the city’s homegrown talent, it may in fact be a little too good.
After all, there are only so many nights you can spend each week hitting the various bars and venues where these bands play.
On Thursday night, however, Y Rock has come up with a splendid solution to that dilemma. Using Johnny Brenda’s as a meeting point, the indie rock arm of WXPN radio will be hosting three of the city’s best in a Philly-style jamboree.
Headlining the show will be the A Sides in celebration of their forthcoming release, Silver Storms, due out Sept. 18.
Joining them are the Capitol Years and the Bitter Bitter Weeks — two other Philly bands of equal skill and style —
making the term "headliner" a misnomer.
Besides promising to be a fantastic show, the local roundup also is a testament to a reborn "Y Rock" brand.
When the Y 100.3 alternative rock station was scrapped in 2005, many Philadelphia modern-rock fans were left wondering if there would ever be a dial for them on the radio.
A year later, the Y Rock brand did re-emerge, though as an entirely different animal. Now a three-day-a-week show on the University of Pennsylvania station 88.5 WXPN, Y Rock dishes out a much more eclectic mix than its former Top 40 format allowed.
In other words, the local radio show actually plays music that fans can dig nowadays.
Shaking off those corporate shackles has also allowed the show to play more local acts, and now is a prime time to have that freedom.
Thursday night’s gig in Fishtown will perhaps provide some of the best evidence of that to date.
Having recently signed with the Vagrant label, the A Sides are now joined by such venerable company as the Lemonheads, Hold Steady and Dashboard Confessional.
High on that promotion, the group will be releasing its sophomore album, the band’s first for Vagrant.
Two songs from the group’s MySpace page show a work that guarantees to be a good listen.
"Cinematic," the fifth of 11 tracks, tumbles into the philosophical, offering a critique of our mass media psyche shrouded in shimmering, jangling indie rock.
In its chorus, the catchy song succinctly sums up that odd tinge of depression that arises when someone footnotes a great moment by saying "This is just like a movie!":
"Oh say something cinematic, or become a tragic figure who never, ever says something to remember."
It begs listeners to question when we stop living for the spectacle and get down to the business of being.
Even if you don’t care to dig into the meaning behind the lyrics, it’s a great rock song loaded with fine vocals and crisp guitar riffs.
The band’s second pre-release, "Diamonds," is a slower, more mystical piece that gradually builds over six minutes of meditative bliss.
Mustering 1960s-style idealism, the song calls for us all to shine like John Lennon’s "the moon and the stars and the sun." But musically, the work is fresh, huge, and inspiring.
If the A Sides can put as much energy and grace into their live act as they did in these recordings, they’ll steal the show.
That will be hard with acts like the Capitol Years and the Bitter Bitter Weeks on hand.
To date, the Capitol Years hold the most star power, having played alongside The Pixies and a handful of other big names. They’re also the most seasoned of the bands set to play at Johnny Brenda’s, with last year’s Dance the Terror Away being their fifth release since 2001.
Six years later, the Capitol Years have appeared on numerous "best of" lists and continue to grow in popularity.
Their sound is varied, pulling in bits and pieces of everything from The Shins and Guided by Voices to Bob Dylan and Tom Petty.
Whatever influences you hear in the music, you’re almost certain to hear gobs of harmony and melody-rich guitar work blended in with the ever-urgent vocals of Shai Halperin.
Tying both Capitol Years and the A Sides together is the main force behind Bitter Bitter Weeks: Brian McTear.
Just as he has touched so much of the good music to come out of Philadelphia, McTear produced the A Sides’ Silver Storms and has done work for the Years in the past. And while he seems to spend an inhuman amount of time behind the control deck of his Fishtown-based Miner Street Studios, McTear has also been busy with his own work with the Weeks.
Having just released Peace is Burning Like a River, his third full-length, this summer, McTear has been popping up all over town.
Thursday night’s show, however, will give fans a chance to see him in his own neighborhood, along with two of the more promising artists he has worked with. On their latest work, the Weeks offer up a delicious selection that will draw in fans of Elliot Smith and Daniel Johnston.
So whether you are an avid fan of the sounds grown in the City of Brotherly Love over the last few years, or just curious about what the local scene has to offer, this is the show to catch. ••
The details . . .
Who: The A Sides, the Capitol Years, and the Bitter Bitter Weeks.
What: A CD-release party for the A Sides, paired with two quality local outfits.
Where: Johnny Brenda’s, Frankford and Delaware avenues in Fishtown.
When: Thursday, Aug. 30. Doors open at 9 p.m., tickets are $10.