I'm a sucker for certain sounds. Fuzz, "glide" guitar, noise. But I'm not always in the mood for extended shoegaze jams. I do love that stuff, but there's nothing like hearing my favorite sounds wrapped up in a nice, little, pop package. Dead Stars have that thing down. 2014's Slumber was in super-heavy rotation for me following its release that year, and I'm thinking things will be no different with Bright Colors.
Single "Calm Punk" starts things off with its Pixies-inspired intro. The title does a nice job at summing up Dead Stars' sound -- aggressive and loud but also kind of introverted and maybe a little nerdy. There's also a bit of a downer vibe that comes through with lines like "Weekends are all the same" and "feeling sorry for ourselves;" but, like Weezer, Dead Stars' introspection comes wrapped in ear-pummeling guitar sounds.
Jeff Moore's vocal on "In My Mind" sits atop pulsing, shoegaze guitars as he sings things like, "I can never win." Two songs in, and the quiet intro to "Stay Here" doesn't fool you for a second. As soon as the pre-chorus kicks in, so does the fuzz. And, as I read down the tracklist, I expected a song called "Bloomer" to be a shoegazy homage to My Bloody Valentine. Instead, the track chugs along as, maybe, the hardest rocker on the record, Moore still getting in some lonerish digs at himself like "waiting for the sun to shine on me" and "I hate that I waited way too long."
The heavy, fuzzed out pop of "Some Days" finds Moore singing about staring "into space with empty feelings and walls" and how "some days, I want to be alone." Part of the vibe of Bright Colors, I think, is that maybe the song should be called "Most Days." And whether the band are using the thrum and pulse of shoegaze ("Unpopular," "Haze," "Living Alone") or distorted pop hooks ("So Strange"), that sense of misfit outsiderdom is almost always there.
"Oh Well" sums things up nicely. Its title alone is an expression of resignation. As the song moves along on its cleaner, almost chimey, guitars, you wait for what you know is coming. After a slight pause at the end of the second verse, the noise comes in as Moore sings, "Oh well. The dream has passed you by."
On Bright Colors, like on their previous work, Dead Stars marry the accessibility of bubblegum pop to the distortion and noise of shoegaze and hard rock. There's a dry sense of humor evident in titling a record Bright Colors that's thematically anything but. All of that, together with a self-deprecating, slackery, classic indie rock feeling, make Dead Stars' latest something that's damn near irresistible to a guy like me.
Bright Colors is available now over at Dead Stars' Bandcamp page and wherever else you get your digital muisic fix.
Like lots of bands we love, Dead Stars are hitting the road for South By Southwest this month. If you'll be down that way, make it a point to check them out.
Dead Stars on Tour
3/09 Cleveland, OH @ Now That's Class
3/10 Columbus, OH @ Ace Of Cups
3/11 Cincinnati, OH @ Urban Artifact
3/12 Memphis, TN @ P&H Cafe
3/13 Fort Worth, TX @ 1912 Hemphill
3/14 Fort Worth, TX Lola's on 6th
3/15 Austin, TX SXSW 'Next Big Thing' Showcase @ Cheers Rooftop 2pm
3/16 Austin, TX SXSW Austin Town Hall Showcase @ Spiderhouse 6pm
3/17 Austin, TX SXSW Dojo Magazine Party @ TBA
3/18 Austin, TX SXSW Tunecore Showcase @ Vulcan Gas Room 12pm
3/18 Austin, TX SXSW Big Bang Show @ Big Bang Bar 1am
3/19 Austin, TX SXSW Rock or Die 3 @ Dozen Street 2pm
3/19 Austin, TX SXSW Shifting Sounds Records Showcase @ The Hole In The Wall 10pm
3/20 Mobile, AL @ The Blind Mule
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