Originally posted by Xavier Bush, Power Forward:
Stellastarr* are immediately annoying for a number of reasons. First is the name. It's not Stellastar, or Stellastarr, it's Stellastarr*. There's a little asterisk at the end. And guess what, it kind of looks like a tiny star. A stellar star, you ask? No, a Stellastarr*! Either it's a clever play on words that utilizes a helpless symbol normally reserved for touch-tone phone menu operations, or it's a tribute to a Tennessee Williams character and humorous misspellings.
The second annoying thing is the voice of lead singer Shawn Christensen. It's not bad; there's just something a little bit off. It's as if the band needed to find a replacement for their real singer and grabbed the guy with the most enthusiasm, neglecting to check his vocal chops. One of my music instructors once claimed that my voice had personality because it had a complete lack of personality. Ditto Mr. Christensen.
The third thing that's annoying is the fact that you think you've heard Stellastarr* before. You may not have actually heard them, but you think that you have. They are one of the many bands exported from New York that sounds like a host of '80s bands. They're a clone band, and they don't try to hide that fact, which is commendable. So they sound like a clone of the Killers and Interpol and all the other throwback bands that were inspired by the Cure and New Order and a glut of other new wave bands. Xerox copies of Xerox copies can still get the job done if the copying is expert. Few people complain about Interpol sounding like other bands because they've carved a unique niche for themselves and injected enough originality into their music to demand attention. Stellastarr* sometimes achieve this, but more often, they do not.
That's such horseshit. What band doesn't sound like another band? And if Stellastarr is xeroxing another band, which band exactly? Seriously, which band sounds exactly like Stellastarr? I would love to know, because then I can go check them out too. And while on this topic, what band out there doesn't sound like any other band?
And sorry to say, but Stellastarr came before the Killers, so if anyone is copping between those two, it's the Killers. As for Interpol, it's fine *now* to say they've carved out a new sound, because they have now released two records and played a thousand shows. Who was saying after Turn On The Bright Lights that they'd carved out their own sound? Noone, it was all a lot of griping about how they were copping Joy Division. In the few songs I've heard from the new Stellastarr album, it sounds like they are progressing and forging their own sound.
Stellastarr has only released one record. They are still developing as a band, and I think eventually they're going to hit the big-time in a big-time way. When I listen to their debut, and think back to the Black Cat show, it reminds me a LOT of the first years of the Smashing Pumpkins. You can argue all you want on whether the Pumpkins were a good band or not, but there's no denying that they hit it big and had a shitload of fans who loved their records. I'm betting that Stellastarr eventually reaches the same level.
The singer's voice is distinctive, to be sure, and it will rub some people the wrong way. But more people are going to be grabbed by it, and it will be the intro to the rest of the music. The same gripe about the vocals can be said about the Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction, Neil Young, the Cure, etc., I'd rather hear unique vocals than generic Killers yelping.
Stellastarr write good songs to which people will connect, as long as the band keeps at it. They've got an art-y vibe, so it will attract the snob types, plus they all look very pretty, which always helps. Based on the Black Cat show, they know how to put on a good show, and the songs are "epic" enough to give them a solid rep as a killer live band.
Okay, the asterik after the name is pretty dumb. But is it any more dumb than putting umlauts over the Husker and the Du?
But then, you didn't write the critique above so this might be just shouting into the wind.
