Stellastarr* - 'Stellastarr*' (RCA)
4/5
By: Toby L
At f**king last - a band resigned to the 80s, after actually demonstrating some grandiose, tempestuous, overt genius only possible in 2003: a musical-era and year sure to be destined amidst the dusty history-books of the future, as a time when it all came together.
And yes, we did mention 80s - as has every other media-outlet. Oh well. There's little denying it - the Hook-y bass-twangs of 'A Million Reasons'; Pixies/'Where Is My Mind?' chord-strikes of 'Jenny'; looming, visceral bleakness of 'In The Walls'... Stellastarr* may evoke the dextrous, untainted vision of their heroes at the expense of remaining cutting-edge - yet at the reward of crafting a void of their bizarre own, and a debut-album deservedly set to grace the end-of-year, 'albums-of-the-year' columns.
An album too, inevitably, that will see their, ahem, Starr rise considerably throughout the upcoming 18 months, where the frantic delirium of frontman Shawn Christensen and femme fatale charm of bassist Amanda Tannen could dominate student indie-discos the world over. A band also endowed with the prerogative of melodious, constructed, lengthy ideas offloaded into each and every composition, 'Stellastarr*' is one of the most inventive, gleefully crafted and imaginative releases of '03's guitar-calendar.
Best of the ten tracks, are the Talking Heads-isms of 'My Coco' - where Christensen wallops out more vocal-exertions in the space of a minute than any prized, stoner-rapper (one mean feat) - the plucking, thunderous growl of 'No Weather', with its 'ba-ba' backing-vocals, space-rock (almost-)instrumental, 'Moongirl', or top-40 debut-single, 'Somewhere Across Forever'.
Yet, overall, and graciously, the record's concise, to-the-point abruptness prevents lenience for any real sagging instants, and as it dwindles to a close amidst a triumvirate of joyous rousers - the ethereal, sanitised transcendence of 'Homeland'; slower, reflective, keys-enriched 'Untitled'; and hammering drum-kicks of 'Pulp Song' - there's as much a joint urge to catch your breath as there is to replicate the astonishing encounter.
Oh, and they're from New York... And that's the strength of Stellastarr* - where, for once, geographical-situation takes second-place of relevance when hoisted against the prospect of true musical-innovation; the latter of which, Stellastarr consistently demonstrate - in spades.
Artists in this article: Stellastarr*
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