There's something about this band that exudes an untouchable cool factor. Is it the layered guitar effects that swirl around Jason Martin's husky, whispered vocals like ethereal smoke? Is it the disaffected attitude that permeates each unintelligibly sad lyric? Is it the gargantuan wall of distorted noise? No. It's none of those things separately, but the sum of each wound together in a lovingly packaged jewel case and shrink-wrapped for your next fix of wanna-be-British-noise-pop-Christian-alternative-rock-and-roll.
In this latest EP, an addendum to the full-length release The Fashion Focus, Jason Martin serves up four extra tracks of semi-sweet pop angst at its delectable finest. Turning ever so slightly from the "wall-of-noise" guitars that exemplified earlier recordings, and leaning gently in the direction of wide-open, molasses-slow surf rock guitar tones, Jason takes us on another tour of his shadowed imaginarium.
There are only a few things here that are new and different. Among them is the nearly endless instrumental "Traffic Jam," which feels like a long, slow loop of the same guitar riff placed on infinite repeat. Also, the excellent "E.P. Nights" is a rare Starflyer 59 song that mentions the name Jesus, and there is an actual lyric sheet-that really doesn't help you decipher the cryptic meanderings of Jason Martin's brazen disregard for sentence structure. All you get with this EP is exactly what you were looking for in the first place: a great collection of more of the same from the band that you can't get enough of.
When Jason Martin drones on about how:
You can't compress with the always used
please give me something new
We want it bad
And could we please come home
Ya, we want it bad
on the song "We Want It Bad," it's the collective vibe of his maddening vocal, coupled again with the molasses-slow guitar riff, that makes it all work, and even somehow make sense.
Here's hoping that Jason Martin doesn't ever unpack all the British-angst from his American Samsonite suitcase. At least not until he can record another glittering rock masterpiece like this one.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #78Reviewed by Doug Van PeltWow! Have you heard the news, oh boy! I think maybe Jason finally allowed himself to listen to a Beatles record or two! Regardless if the title track sounds like one of this century's most ground-breaking bands, this little EP features probably the best produced Starflyer song ever. Oh my gosh! I need to go back and listen to The Fashion Focus! How could I have let that album pass me by? The…The Lighthouse Unsorted 1999Reviewed by Alex KlagesFell In Love At 22 EP, the latest Starflyer 59 venture finds Jason Martin and crew wandering down familiar terrain - a mellow, laid-back groove that started somewhere between Silver and Gold that continues to appear more and more. The title track of this EP is essentially the same as the album version, as best as I can figure, and isn't really a "value-added" track in that sense, if you already…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Jeff ElbelSpotlighting a track from SF59's fourth LP, "The Fashion Focus," this collection finds vocalist/guitarist Jason Martin toning down the noise in his noise-pop considerably. Earlier musical touchstones such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride yield to Bernard Butler a la People Move On during Martin's bittersweet title cut. The familiar wall of fuzz reappears only briefly, during "E.P. Nights." "We…Similar sounding releases
2003TimoniumUntil He Finds Us
2005MogwaiGovernment Commissions
2003Ester DrangInfinite Keys
2005My EducationItalian
2001LowThings We Lost in the Fire
2003CanyonLive in NYCMore from Starflyer 59
2005The Last Laurel
2003Old
1994She's The Queen
1995Gold
1999Everybody Makes Mistakes
1998The Fashion Focus
