Search - Stellastarr, Stellastarr* :: Harmonies for the Haunted

Stellastarr*'s histrionic, over baked second album paints teenage daydreams with such technicolor saturation they're impossible to deny. Singer Shawn Christensen may be overly overwrought, but how are these for song titles worth scribbling in the margins of your schoolbook: "Damn This Foolish Heart," "Island Lost At Sea," "When I Disappear," and of course the single "Sweet Troubled Soul"? On the surface they sound a lot like Interpol (who Stellastarr* of course predates) mixed with latter day Echo and the Bunnymen, but these are sometimes-fabulous, moody Arena-emo (Aremo?) tunes that are pretty sophisticated, really. The slick sheen of big radio production and incongruous backing vocals are a bit much at times, but Shawn's Danzig-on-downers vocals really grow on you after a few listens and the drumming is fabulous and often perfectly un-rockist. -Mike McGonigal