Capital City

“Local four-piece Capital City avoid the pop-rock path out of Perth – the path defined by the golden footsteps of Eskimo Joe, Little Birdy and End of Fashion. The bluesy rockers would rather take their own dangerous, uncharted trip through the wilds of rock’n’roll and come out covered in battle scars, but still standing.� - Jay Hanna, Sunday Times Magazine (April 2007) - Sunday Times Magazine

“Bad Money, the Perth band’s first album, is 50 minutes of top quality product with no fat" - Michel Inglis, Fasterlouder.com.au - Fasterlouder.com.au

“Bad Money is a really fun album, weaving raw warmth through a string of great tracks.�- Matt Giles, Mess and Noise (March 2007) - Mess and Noise

“…this collection of yesteryear-inspired rock and roll is pulled off with a sense of taste that is so often lacking in similar efforts� - Dan Condon, Time Off (April 2007) - Time Off Magazine

“Rising to the occasion, as everyone assumed they would, Capital City took to the grandeur of their album launch like pigs to shit, putting on one of the best live performances by a local band in recent memory.
While the band doesn’t have that awful air of forced ‘professionalism’ about them, on this night they were very neat and tidy (production-wise), only ever breaking performance to take care of necessary duties such as tuning – during which time singer Sam Scherr abandoned his usual role of antagonist for a far more effective ‘thanks for coming’ approach.
In terms of his performance, there have been few times when Scherr has sung or played with more gusto or accuracy. Between himself and guitarist Kate Mills there was a wall of twang that was itself impenetrable, backed solidly by bassist Chris Pierucci (looking remarkably like Cheech Marin on this occasion) and the simple-but-effective drumming of Jake Snell.
As a whole, Capital City have finally found their lineup. Snell is by far the most musically-affable drummer the band has had, intuitively knowing the band’s style and complementing it, and Mills has slid effortlessly into her role as wingman. Scherr and Pierucci, of course, are as much the band as the band is them, so there’s no questioning how well they contribute into the group’s chemistry.� Mike Wafer, Xpress Magazine - Xpress Magazine

“Following swiftly were the schizophrenic sounds of Capital City, starting the set toying with rockabilly, ending up reminiscent of Primal Scream and Jesus and the Mary Chain via The Ramones. Dark, aggressive and full of attitude, the band possess all the necessary ingredients for future greatness.- Chris Chinchilla, Rockus.com.au - Rockus.com

Opening for a band as large, and mainstream-friendly as Jet has to be a daunting task, but Perth’s Capital City gave it their all, and whether or not it did them much good in their early timeslot, they must have been happy with their performance. Opening with ‘50s-esque rocker Let’s Throw Our Love Away from recent album Bad Money, the band seemed as though the front half of Metro City’s large stage was made just for them. Sam Scherr was in fine form as the band’s frontman, stating that they were “in the heart of Perth’s gangland violence�, and asking the crowd how the Fremantle Dockers had gone in the AFL (for the record, they lost, somewhat disappointing Scherr), and the rhythm section of Chris Pierucci and Jake Snell kept the beats stomping, leaving Kate Mills to assist Scherr in keeping the guitar up front, and the set a rousing success. Tracks like Come On and Work for the Lord (which sounds like a bluesy take on Ween’s Waving my Dick in the Wind), and the castrated-to-only-five-minutes performance of the droning blues rocker I Felt the Light (nearing 13 minutes on the record, and nearing a legendary 20 minutes at their own shows) went down well to a crowd that had paid for headliners, but the highlight of their set was Scherr’s smooth introduction to a certain song as “we’re not Jet: we’re slightly less accessible.� You won’t hear them on commercial radio anytime soon, but Capital City have the chops to pull it off on the big stage. – Fasterlouder.com - Fasterlouder.com.au

Recent album releasers Capital City were up next and the crowd was looking healthier and now standing five metres away from the stage. Showing off the gems from Bad Money, they impressed with their End of the Century-Ramones reminder Let’s Throw Our Love Away and The Hives riff-channelling Lowlife Crisis, through to their less wall of sound tunes that favour more of a Rolling Stones bluesy sound. Frontman Sam Scherr gets extra points for saying that Spiderbait are a terrible band and the moustached basslines of Chris Pierucci succeeded in making the songs stand out, particularly on the closer Who’s That Dude? – Matthew Hogan, Drum Media - Drum Media