Violence Against STAR

 

STAR

Violence Against STAR

(self released)

It was still days of Myspace, when I first happened upon STAR, a Chicago trio that struck with short bursts of electric energy and controlled chaos.  Like so many artists did on that platform, they offered up a few songs for free download, and download I did, which then led to the full debut CD purchase (Devastator) from CD Baby.  God I feel like a relic!  That’s what makes this sophomore LP release such a surprise, it arrives 13 years after the debut and it’s like no time has passed, even though everything feels completely different now. 

 

STAR consisting of Scott Cortez (best known from loveliescrushing & Astrobrite) and Theodore Beck created soundscapes of noise that teetered somewhere between the all-out stabs of noisy feedback of Skywave and Barbed Wire Kisses Jesus and Mary Chain, which were then transformed into shiny little catchy pop nuggets by singer/songwriter Shannon Roberts and her both beautiful and disconcerting falsetto.  Whatever the case, the debut was a fun listen and was able to yield any kind of different takes with each listen.  Then, they disappeared.  Devastator received a nice reissue in 2016 on the fine Texas shoegaze label Saint Marie Records, which at the time reminded me to pull out the old CD and even contemplate purchasing it on vinyl (I did not). 

Then on Halloween 2018, STAR released a roaring, in-the-red, single named “Flesh Eating Mothers.”  It’s just over two minutes of blistering noise with a killer (and I mean killer) chorus.  What a surprise!  Then, another wait.  Now two years later “Flesh Eating Mothers” is back as a track on this full length second offering from the same lineup and another intoxicating stew of memorable songs bursting at the seams with a sardonic could give a fuck attitude, along with a healthy dose of tenderness.

Right away they dazzle with three stunning songs, among their best yet.  Violence opens with the bright, open air quality of the opening cut “Angel School Anthem,” the relentless pounding of “Blonde Sound,” and the incredible guitar hook of “Noise Parade” make this LP alone worth it.  It doesn’t end their though, because the LP plays out much like a greatest hits style package.  SideTwo opens with a similar one two three punch with the buzzy “Cruel 15” that has another appealing chorus, “Cock Swan” comes on like JAMC’s “Head On” and a whole other level of noise, when more and more guitars get added to the mix as the song progresses.  “In Your Arsenal” follows with yet another astonishing chorus and a serious need for upping the volume.  Elsewhere, “White Fear” comes on like some kind of demented High School cheer with the most timely and telling line of the entire record: “This is how fear always beats out reason.”  The entire album is really enjoyable.  I know the noise isn’t for everyone, or every mood, but there’s something captivating and inviting about these brief anthems.

Sadly, and with a heavy heart, I hate to say that Theodore Beck, Shannon’s husband, developed cancer and passed away late in October.  Apparently, we have him to thank for making sure this wonderful record found its way to completion, leaving us with an amazing gift.  Thank you so much.

 

(https://star13.bandcamp.com/)

 

Hard to Care

 

Heavy Sigh

Hard To Care

(Cult of Nine)

Okay, so I am still incredibly far behind!  This quality LP was released way back in early October and I am just now getting to it.  Not that it matters.  The best music is timeless and I rank this as some of the finest music I’ve heard this year.  I sincerely hope that there’s already a wide audience enjoying the virtues of this humble collection, but if there’s any one person that isn’t aware, whom I can convince, then I’ll have already exceeded any kind of reach that I’ve set previously.

During my older years, I have found that music takes more time to sink its way into my psyche than it used to.  I need to listen and focus more to allow everything to marinate and differentiate itself within my muddled mind.  Occasionally, one of these collections seems to get better with every listen.  Heavy Sigh’s Hard to Care is one of those.  Honestly, I liked this New Jersey five piece’s debut album the first time I heard it, but now I find myself listening to it all the time.

Not sure when the band put this all together, but the songs are incredibly perfect for these Covid / and everything ELSE times.  There is an exceeding amount apathy within these words – a strong sense of giving it all the fuck up.  Something I’m sure many of us have asked during our lives, and likely increasingly so when access to so much of what keeps us going, in every sense of the word, has been shut down: What’s the point?

For some reason, I’ve always liked it when a band is confident enough to open an album with a down or mid-tempo track and Heavy Sigh does so here with the defiant floater “No Hell.”  It’s a builder, despite its brevity.  The song showcases the band’s inherent drama with a surprising wash of invigorating trumpets and the skittering noisy repeated bridge of “do the tears burn or put the fire out?” 

For simple reference, Heavy Sigh’s sound lies somewhere between the shiny effervescence of their contemporaries Soft Blue Shimmer and the wistful melancholy pop of 90s indie band Spent.  They have a tasteful sparseness to their sound and with their words, which is incredibly appealing.  It seems like a few short lyrics along with an uncluttered sound can often evoke really strong emotional reactions.

My introduction to Heavy Sigh was via the song “Downtime, All the Time,” which could be the most fitting title for 2020, if we haven’t had to be ready for so many disasters along the way.  The song glides along pleasantly with a sweet little keyboard hook as it ruminates on the 9 to 5 workday rules so many of us find ourselves stuck in.  The rinse-repeat nightmare (“falling all the time”) that hits me, personally, very hard.  Speaking of nightmares, “Cold Throw” covers this ground by asking “why am I terrified?"

There is definitely an eternal conflict going on with many of these songs.  There’s a feeling that our narrator is not quite getting what they want out of a relationship or situation, yet seems uncertain about moving on.  There’s the promise made in “The Promise” (while still asserting “I am not a puppet”), and in the stunning “Feel Like It,” Suzy Forman “can’t say goodbye,” but yet can’t stop from acting out.  The haunting “People Pleaser” is one of my favorites.  It has a seeping quality that drains its confused and aching sentiments straight into one’s soul.  “Are you happy with me?” is one of those eternal crushing questions that no one wants to ask, answer, or have anything to do with.

“That Bad” sounds like a lost track from the Cure’s Seventeen Seconds album with a little backwards hit on the drum sound along with a gloomy re-write of the self-hating “How Soon is Now?” scenario.  OMG!  Where was this song during my high school years?!

The collection winds down with “Glare,” with a ton of resignation and defeat: “this hurt is mine / I don’t want to fight.”  It’s all incredibly sad and identifiable, but I’d like to posit that the fight in the music throughout this LP shows off an energy that is not ready to give up so easily.  “Glare” itself comes to a soaring musical peak, but instead of concluding in that blaze of stormy glory, it begins again, much as it began: quietly and determined to figure things out.

 

(https://heavysigh.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-care)