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Stellastarr* Live at the Roxy in New York, NY - 9/5/04
Do you ever wish that you got to see some of your favorite bands live back in their heyday? Maybe it would be The Ramones, or Pavement, or even Led Zeppelin who knows? Judging by the runaway success of the reunited Pixies, it seems clear that your average indie rocker is quite happy to lose him/herself in nostalgia from time to time. While thats all well and good, before you throw down $50 on the next David Bowie tour, you might want to consider just how many damn good bands there are coming out right now. I mean, its impossible to keep track of all these stupid major label bands nowadays, isnt it? Between The Thrills, The Kills, The Killers, and The Stills, isnt it a lot easier to just forget all this obnoxious hype, and wait for the expanded version of London Calling to come out? Sure, you can ignore them, but you might be missing a bright moment in musical history if youre not careful. I only mention it, because you could probably guess my reaction when a friend started telling me two months ago about yet another artsy band from New York City called Stellastarr*. Oh just what my collection is missing! I thought to myself with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Yet, my friend wouldnt let me escape until I had returned home from the CD store with the bands debut album. Damn good thing too, because I happened to be up in New York City over the Labor Day weekend in time to catch Motherfucker. Thats just the name for a club night that happens in NYC during certain holidays at various venues around the city. Six DJs, a slew of classy New York Drag Queens, and of course Stellastarr* descended on the Roxy last Sunday evening in an attempt to achieve a Labor Day miracle. That miracle of course was to convince the 1500 or so spectators to actually pay the ridiculous drink prices at the Roxy and enjoy a debaucherous evening of dancing and partying, which in the end, seemed to be well worth the price. And what better band is there to do a quick hour-long set amidst such revelry than Stellastarr*? After listening to the ten tracks of their self-titled debut, I realized that this band is doing something quite exciting. Basically, they are re-fueling music with the goofiest brand of emotional urgency that Ive ever heard on record before. Yes, you could compare Shawn Christensen with a goofball like David Byrne when a song like Jenny kicks off. I found myself bopping around in a light-hearted manner as this song dished out its catchy yo-oh-oh-oh-oh vocals. About six girls stormed the stage to dance along to the compelling groove, but then Shawn starts screaming his head off, cursing and screeching like the singer from Refused lost in a violent Modest Mouse song. This really only lasted for about a minute or two, and then it was on to the next song, which was guaranteed to be completely different. Early highlights of their performance included No Weather and the anthemic In the Walls. The latter really put Stellastarr*s secret for success in plain view. Here, the bands intricate and tense music gets overlaid with the dual vocal attack of Shawn and bassist, Amanda Tannen. Unfortunately, the Roxy performance had Amandas vocals a bit low in the mix, so Im not sure that everybody experienced the songs full potential. Drummer Arthur Kremer kept the music alive and well though, and I loved watching such a young band pound out such incredibly solid material. This was Stellastarr*s final performance before they plan to lock themselves up and record a new album, so it naturally seemed like a good occasion to bring out some brand new songs. An intriguing track called Precious Games came out towards the end, but the one that caught me was apparently written just three days before the show. The working title is Damn This Foolish Heart, and all I can remember is an ultra catchy chorus and some lyrics alluding to insanity of some sort; but it was a highlight of the set for me. Hardly any song could compete with My Coco in the live arena though. While many people remained calm observers during the concert, the infectious rock melodies of this track had everyone beginning to move around a bit. The live sound was far catchier than the album version, which really is a tribute to the bands musicianship. They ended with an encore featuring new song Angela, and then one last chance to showcase Shawns schizoid singing arrangements came with the closing track, Pulp Song. I mean, the guy sounded like Ian Curtis might after swallowing a balloon full of helium. Such bizarreness is really the perfect way to make music aggressive and totally fun at the same time. As bipolar trends like disco-punk and cut-up-music continue to infiltrate parts of the underground music scene, I cant help but congratulate Stellastarr* for creating their own brand of carefully formulated manic-depression. And believe me, theres no better time to check out a band like this than the present.
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