Editor’s Note: I had to edit the title of this post from reading “STUPIDER” to “DUMBER,” thus proving who the stupid one here actually is.
I, like many others, got my first taste of Stars in 2005 thanks to their fantastic album Set Yourself On Fire. The indie rock soap opera that is that album’s opening track was the gateway drug to an album full of emotional, climactic and very sappy (but very good) songs. I was shocked to love it as much as I did. “The Big Fight” was a particular highlight for me: I listened to that song on repeat on a business trip to Seattle and now am fondly reminded of the song whenever I see a picture of the Space Needle or Ichiro Suzuki. It was one of a few albums that defined a period of a lot of great music for me.
All of those good feelings made the auditory atrocity that was last year’s In Our Bedroom After The War very painful for me. I hated it on first listen and continue to think of it with a disdain usually reserved for coffee cups with seams that cause a leak under the lid. With tracks like “Personal” (link to ridiculous, gimmicky, gag-inducing lyrics here, but consider yourself warned), it was about as big a disappointment as I could have imagined. From what I’ve seen, I am kind of on my own among Stars fans in feeling this way, but there you have it. There were no standout tracks to me, no interesting moments, no dramatic arc.
So it was with some trepidation that I downloaded the EP Sad Robots the other day. It’s really great. Notably absent– at least when compared to Set Yourself– is a guitar presence. But that’s fine… in fact, it’s great. The strum of an electric here and there helped immensely to build the sound on that album, but in it’s place here we have a heavier emphasis on atmospheric electronic sounds. The result is something familiar yet altogether new, and I couldn’t be more relieved.
“A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife” by Stars (from Sad Robots)
I wasn’t impressed with In the bedroom after whatever either and I liked the first couple albums a lot. Not really into the new EP either.
I was also REALLY not into the bedroom war album..blah. it sucked. hope this is better.