All Star United

Item: International Anthems for the Human Race
Author: Steven S. Baldwin

International Anthems for the Human Race

(1998)

Reviewed by Steven S. Baldwin

Discogs YouTube

Label Reunion Records / Essential RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1999

blues rock britpop pop rock power pop

In the spirit of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it, just tweak it a bit," All Star United have recently released their second album, which largely resembles and expands on their signature sound from their self-titled debut. The budget for International Anthems for the Human Race was considerably larger than for their first, resulting in a bigger, bolder, and more brash All Star United presentation. In fact, so much so that you can imagine producer, engineer, and mixer Neill King mirthfully cranking the Big, Bold, and Brash buttons all the way to a Spinal Tap Eleven, resulting in an audio roller coaster with more thrills than chills. Maybe a bit too many thrills, at the expense of variety.

The majority of these songs are whipped together in a dense arrangement where virtually every featured instrument bubbles along at the top of the mix. All the time. Consequently, the album is sustained at a high plateau, with few valleys in between for a refreshing break from the dizzying effects of the upbeat material. "I Need You Now" is a stand-out cut on this album precisely because it offers more variety in tone and energy than the rest of the cuts. Having said that, this whirlwind of an album has plenty of sonic variety within and between tracks in terms of style and effects, just delivered at a consistently optimistic and frenzied pace. Nevertheless, All Star United have created a truly plucky power-pop effort with plenty of British panache, ranging in mostly Brit-pop styles influenced all the way from Abba, through Elton John, onto Squeeze and Tears for Fears, and even to Stevie Wonder. On one of the hidden tracks and album highlights, "Hurricane Baby," the band does their best Brian Setzer imitation on a song that could have been ripped from the greater Stray Cats catalogue. A few other tracks, like "Theme From Summer," feature Beach Boys-type harmonies, and some of the album's keyboard bits are reminiscent of the Theremin (a goofy instrument seemingly plucked from a sci-fi B-movie) first made famous in "Good Vibrations." For the most part, however, the band stays on course in a singular sound somewhere between the Beatlesque pop of PFR and the modern day grooves of Oasis, with a cheerfully schmaltzy quality that only a true power pop phenomenon can successfully muster.

Main song-writer and vocalist Ian Eskelin has been releasing albums for a little while now, and this is among his best. Curiously, his vocals are remarkably effective given the unremarkable nature of his voice. Making up for his lack of range and distinctive style, Eskelin sings perfectly in keeping with each song's particular pop style, and sounds fine doing so. This ability to sing well despite his vocal limitations further illuminates that his real talents are as a pop songwriter and performer. And quite a talent he is, weaving cleverly worded messages of cultural and spiritual relevance into accessible, sing-along-able ditties. Given all this energetic, well-played pop, there is no reason whatsoever why this band can't reach the status of British Isles Christian Super Group, becoming the sort of sensation that dc Talk has become stateside, or better. Screaming, adoring fans everywhere will be treated to something both of musical and lyrical quality as well as unabashed, unadulterated fun.

4 tocks