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Stellastarr*
Stellastarr*
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My first listen to the debut of Stellastarr prompted this thought. “A new millennium version of Haircut One Hundred”. All right, so that cursory criticism isn’t that exact or fair. Stellastarr has some hard, modern punch tucked inside post-punk locomotion. If need be, think of Interpol fronted by early David Byrne or Danny Elfman and you’re a little closer to the mark.
On second listen, a few more songs stuck to the wall, as it were. Most notably, “Jenny” bounds from go-go, straight ahead rhythm in the verses to half that tempo in the chorus, all with Shawn Christensen’s... unique... phrasing of “Jenny’s coming after you, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!” By the end of the song, he has gone to absolutely blood-curdling barking “Jenny! Jenny!” and the guitars (from both Christensen and Michael Jurin) crunch pretty darn hard. Haircut One Hundred never got quite that P.O.’Ed if I recall. Other songs like “Moongirl” and “Untitled” also struck me the right way, but I found myself skipping over the songs that didn’t initially grab me, much as I attempted to stay with them. Maybe that was more residual first-impression, maybe it didn’t work on me as well as it could have.
For those expecting the 80s underground to rise again, it will on the shoulders of Stellastarr and Interpol, I’m sure. But a lot has changed since then and computer fiddling has smoothed out whole generations of crappy singers, turning them into superstars and dancing fools. I have no idea if the “big-time” is ready for a purposefully peculiar quartet like Stellastarr. I hope so, because the ingredients are there and I’m fully prepared to admit that as much as this debut didn’t get me, I didn’t “get it”.
Release Date: September 23, 2003
Tracks: 9 - Time: 42:58
Produced by: Tim O'Heir
Format: CD
Website: www.stellastarr.com
Track Listing:
In The Walls / Jenny / Million Reasons / My Coco / No Weather / Moongirl / Somewhere Across Forever / Homeland / Pulp Song.
Stellastarr*:
Shawn Christensen: Vocals / Guitar
Michael Jurin: Guitar
Amanda Tannen - Bass
Arthur Kremer - Drums
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