Capitol Cities

Singer/guitarist Chris Capitol, singer/guitarist Hans Wittrock, bassist Ian Nairobi, and drummer Mark Tabor formed Capitol Cities in metro Detroit in 2003. George Jacobsen joined the group in late 2003 as its lead guitarist. The brash quintet kicked in the door of the Detroit rock establishment in 2004 and began work on their first album All Thrills... with producer Jim Diamond in Detroit, MI. In between playing shows and recording, internal disputes forced Hans Wittrock out of the band.

The brash quintet kicked in the door of the Detroit rock establishment in 2004 and began work on their first album All Thrills... with producer Jim Diamond in Detroit, MI. In between playing shows and recording, internal disputes forced Hans Wittrock out of the band. Adam Thomson, who was playing bass for psychedelic-surf rock band Friends of Dennis Wilson joined the group in the summer of 2004 as a second lead guitarist. Recording of All Thrills... concluded in the summer of 2004 with half of the songs featuring Wittrock on rhythm guitar. Thomson added additional rhythm tracks to "Can't Stand It" and "Ginger" and lead tracks to "Goddamn Right", and "Touch Everything". The recording was also chronicled by writer Jacquie Trost from motrocityrocks.com in a web feature entitled "Straight from the Ghetto".

All Thrills... was Capitol Cities 9-song opus to the excesses of the Detroit rock scene, released on Supercool Records in November 2004. It was a no-bullshit rock 'n' roll record meant for delivering the rock 'n' roll goods. The album featured classic post-garage rock era songs "Detroit City Girls", "Ginger", "Can't Stand It", "Get Low" and "Touch Everything". The album received favorable reviews and is available at CDBaby.com and iTunes.

Changing gears for a brief moment, the band recorded the pop-oriented song "Electric Frostine Queen" at Ghetto Recorders in 2005 for the Sweet Sounds of Detroit, Volume I compilation. Released in 2006 on Bellyache Records, the Sweet Sounds album also featured tracks from popular Detroit bands such as The Hard Lessons, Hotness, Outrageous Cherry, SSM, Grande Nationals, Hey Sailor and many more, stands as Detroit's take on 60's bubblegum pop themes. "Electric Frostine Queen" takes the third slot on this 18-track must-have for the contemporary Detroit music fan.

In 2006, the band again returned to Ghetto Recorders to record an E.P. entitled M.F.I.C., or "Motherfuckers in Charge", a nod to the divisive former City of Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young as well as the band's own professional aesthetic. The five-song E.P. is a venerable "fuck you" record and features live classic Cities' tracks "I Want You" and "Why You Gotta Come?". Setting out to distance themselves from the prevalent garage-rock hierarchy of Detroit, Capitol Cities embraced everything from stoner rock to trashy glam, psyche-rock to Grande Ballroom-era Detroit for M.F.I.C., a distinct and grittier departure from All Thrills... However, M.F.I.C. proved to be the band's swan song.

M.F.I.C. was released in the summer of 2006. Growing internal problems prevented the band from really supporting their efforts in the studio and in early 2007 they subsequently disintegrated. The band announced their last show, which took place at the The Painted Lady in Hamtramck, MI, part of the 2007 Metro Times Blowout. While copies of M.F.I.C. were pressed, they were limited and the album has never been made fully available for broad public consumption. As such, it remains a bit of rarity, even for fans of the band.

As of January 2008, guitarist Adam Thomson plays guitar for Detroit-based Friends of Dennis Wilson. Capitol Cities drummer Mark Tabor and guitarist George Jacobsen both play guitar for indie rock band Darling Imperial. Ian Nairobi plays bass for Detroit country-rock band Scarlet Oaks.

Guest Musicians
While never really straying far from it's core lineup consisting of Chris Capitol, Adam Thomson, Ian Nairobi, Mark Tabor, and George Jacobsen, Capitol Cities had their fair share of guest musicians roll through their ranks. In 2006, drummer Mark Tabor left the band and was temporarily replaced by Hotness drummer Skip Denomme. Multi-instrumentalist Melody Baetens of The Sirens, The Coronados, and more played both bass and guitar for Capitol Cities on separate occasions, most notably when guitarist George Jacobsen was recuperating from a 2004 surgery. Jamiel Dado, currently of Darling Imperial also filled-in on bass for the Capitol Cities on one occasion.

Wendy Case of Detroit rock outfit The Paybacks performed two songs live with the Cities at the Lager House in Detroit. Tony DeNardo from The Muggs also contributed keys to the recording of "Why You Gotta Come?" from M.F.I.C.. Sarah Sadovsky of Darling Imperial, Nina Croney from England and Leann Banks of The Von Bondies and The Sirens contributed background vocals to songs on M.F.I.C., including a cover of "20th Century Boy" by T.Rex