The Hi-Frequencies

Formed in a '20s-vintage clapboard farmhouse in north Pittsburgh suburb of Ohio Township in 1998, Hi-Frequencies throw detail-obsessed surf rock and early garage playing into a blender and hit the majestic power pop button. But as much as audiophile-level sound replication is a key to the group's sound, so is conjuring the spirit of the pleasant part of the early '60s on the West Coast, exploring its boundaries and expanding them. Indeed, vocal numbers like "Junior Varsity" and "To Do," and tight, economical instrumentals like "Clairton Beat" and "Stranded" betray more than a measure of '90s-era indie rock self-consciousness and willingness to experiment. After hooking up with guitarist Jason Lizzi in the mid-'90s, singer/songwriter/guitarist Bill McAdams met drummer Bill Scully while working at garage rock institution Get Hip Records in 1998. Scully's father, also Bill, was drummer for Clairton garage rockers the Arondies, whose Pittsburgh radio hit "69" sold some 1,200 copies in its first two days of release in the summer of 1965. They played largely without a bass until McAdams met Kate Daley at the bookstore where they both worked. After several lineup shifts and one immaculately designed 7" single -- the power pop "Junior Varsity" -- they started gigging heavily. Hi-Frequencies issued their formal, self-titled debut in August 2002, and eyed national dates that fall.