Stellastarr* might be the latest in a line of rock outfits to come out of New York City, but their sound is less garage rock, more 'indie'. This eponymous debut amalgamates a raft of diverse influences into a melodious pop album.
Shawn Christensen (lead vocals/guitar), Arthur Kremer (drums/keyboards) and Amanda Tannen (bass) met at a Manhattan arts school at the end of the 90s and formed the fledgling Ghistor. Although short-lived, it cemented three quarters of the line-up - guitarist Michael Jurin was added in 2000 - that would later become the shockingly named Stellastarr*.
The band's college background has clearly filtered through to their rather studied music. Drawing from the likes of Joy Division, the Pixies, Talking Heads and a number of Britpop bands, Stellastarr* make a pretty good fist of sounding like a lot of other bands while struggling to carve their own niche in this bloated musical terrain.
That said, the songwriting on much of 'Stellastarr*' is highly accomplished - recent single 'Jenny' is an angular pop gem redolent of the Pixies, climaxing with Christensen yelping the word "Jenny" like Frank Black himself. 'A Million Reasons', meanwhile, shares a debt with (gulp) Shed Seven fleshed-out with some steely New Order-esque guitar lines. As redemptive rock songs go it's undoubtedly a triumph. Equally, the stadium bombast and interweaving vocals of 'My Coco' make for a jaunty romp that, bizarrely, shows traces of 'Ready To Go' Republica, while the space rock instrumental led 'Moongirl' is more prog than punk but none the worse for it.
However, on tracks like 'Somewhere Across Forever' and 'No Weather' Stellastarr* dip into an anodyne dirgy rock territory which most closely illustrates their lack of original ideas - while album closer 'Pulp Song' sails so close to a being Jarvis Cocker composition it really is unforgivable.
Essentially if you like the bands that have so clearly influenced Stellastarr* you'll like this record. But it's difficult to really love a band that haven't yet found a voice they can truly call their own.
