Crystal Fighters Star Of Love (Zirkulo)
1/5
By: Stephen Maughan
Greetings, starfighter! There's a 1980's film called The Last Starfighter, where the hero is a bored teenager who also happens to be a video game whizzkid. He spends hours on a video game called 'The Last Starfighter'. Indeed, he’s so good at it that a spaceman comes to take him into space to fight the Ko-Dan Empire (because he’s the best video game player on Earth, and so his skills can be used in a real life starfighter). Suffice to say, he saves the universe, and after a quick return to Earth for an emotional goodbye to his confused family and to pick up his pretty girlfriend, he heads back to Space to spend the rest of his days.
Crystal Fighters exist, so we are told, after lead singer Laure found a secret diary written by her crazy grandfather in France, one which contained sketches for a fantasy opera, ‘Crystal Fighters’. He wanted the band to be formed in London to finish his masterpiece for him, and Laure set about making his dream a reality. This second tale reminded me of the first, but out of these two, I know which one I'd rather daydream about being real.
Yes, it’s very now, but Crystal Fighters is a brilliant name, and Star of Love is perhaps my favourite album title all year (although my first reading of it was Star of Hope, which is perhaps even better. Pah!). Like The Last Starfighter, it’s the kind of thing a ten year old boy would pick up on name alone. But though the band has the preteen market nailed (so to speak), what about the rest of us?
The sad part is that once you get over the fun story behind the forming of the band and their cool name, Star of Love kind of all falls apart. One should always be wary of such back stories - usually it’s an indication something is missing in the music when an elaborate tale is needed to kick start interest. Once you get to the real essence of the album – the actual, tired, synthy-folk music this is – it all feels a little jaded and overdone.
Dealing in poppy, Basque folk set to a simple electronic beat, and peddling some feel good lyrics about “the most beautiful girl I've ever seen” sets a wholly representative initial tone, with a few interesting moments (particularly 'Plage' and the confessional, almost charming 'At Home') standing out amongst tedious tracks like the dreadful 'In The Summer', and the club of snooze 'Champion Sound', a song more likely than to have you heading for the paracetamol than strutting your stuff on the kitchen table, hairbrush as microphone.
The Eurotrash hit in waiting 'I Love London' could work on a particularly enthused Slovakian dancefloor, but elsewhere it becomes very hard to get excited about Star Of Love. At least your copy probably won’t be a promo one, though – the Spanish woman who keeps on informing me that “this is Crystal Figthers’ Star Of Love’ on every single track may have driven me too crazy to rationally comment any further.
Crystal Fighters - Follow/Swallow by Sainted PR
Artists in this article: Crystal Fighters
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment