Civilized

Civilized came out today. It's on the "Alternative" front page of iTunes. I'm waiting for my signed copy in the mail along with a shirt and poster. Those of you who have heard it all the way through, how do you like it?

From what I've heard so far, I'm way excited to see the band in a couple weeks, and jealous of those on the west coast that can see them with Mason Proper, because those guys rock too.

I’ve been told once that it’s human nature that when we fail at something, the next time we try the extreme opposite. Largely through no fault of their own (and I think the band won’t begrudge me for saying this), Harmonies For The Haunted was a critical and commercial failure. As much as I love that record, the decision to streamline the band’s sound in order to get a more cohesive-sounding record just never quite sat right. On top of this, Harmonies sounded like the band was playing with a rather large monkey on its back – even the more upbeat-sounding songs like ‘Sweet Troubled Soul’ and ‘Born In A Fleamarket’ had very dark lyrics. So for the new album, the band has decided to go completely the other way – they took their time writing and recording and they lightened up the mood considerably, and it shows. Civilized also presents a wide variety of sounds and themes; the jump in tempo and feeling from one song to another is almost jarring at time, but they pull it off.

‘Robot’ opens the album and the closest reference I can think of is a sped-up ‘Moongirl’. For what the band (on Myspace) almost dismissed as something that was tucked onto the beginning of the album at the last minute, it actually ends up being one of the strongest songs on here.

‘Freak Out’ sounds slower here than I remember it from last year’s live show. When it really kicks in is the chorus. Obscure lyrics litter the song and, indeed, the rest of the album.

Things then slow down considerably for ‘Tokyo Sky’. In the hands of, say, The Killers it would have ended up sounding turgid and predictable, so it is testament to stellastarr*’s great skill that manage to pull it off. Lyrical obscurity peaks with the line “To the East my Japanese Los Angeles swings through my mind”.

‘Numbers’ is on the complete opposite end of the scale sonically – it is by far the heaviest thing the band has ever done. For some reason it still reminds me of System Of A Down although I am pretty sure SOAD weren’t actually an influence.

So from the intense to the playful – you probably all already know ‘Graffiti Eyes’ which also makes for a pretty obvious lead-off single.

Then comes the centrepiece. Anyone who has seen the band in the last couple of years would have come away from a show remembering at least one new song – ‘Prom Zombie’. Not only is it the best song title in the band’s career to date but also the most playful thing they have ever done. Think ‘She’s Gone’ if it was about getting fucked up and roaming the streets instead of about not being able to get over your ex. Most importantly, it sounds like they are actually having fun. A brass section and handclaps all feature but it continues to sound like stellastarr* throughout and never feels like a forced attempt to prove that the band is not a one-trick pony (any notion of stellastarr* being a one-trick pony should have been blown out of the water right around the time ‘No Weather’ merged into ‘Moongirl’ on the first album). “Follow me home / past another one” is certain to join the likes of “Jenny’s coming after you / woah oh oh oh oh” as a live singalong staple. Will this song get mainstream airplay? I don’t know, but if it does get airplay, will it turn people onto the band who would have never listened to stellastarr* in the past? Absolutely.

So I mentioned jarring changes from one song to the next – none more so than when the upbeat ‘Prom Zombie’ is followed by the dark and bass-heavy ‘Warchild’.

Next on the list is ‘People’ – the closest thing to filler on the record. But again, proof that even when cruising in third gear, stellstarr* remains more vital than 90% of other bands are at full-speed.

‘Move On’ is one of the other highlights of the record. It has that stellastarr* trademark delay-heavy guitar sound (see also: ‘In The Walls’, ‘Homeland’, ‘Angela’ and ‘Love And Longing’) and a killer chorus.

And if ‘Move On’ is the sequel to ‘Love And Longing’, than album closer ‘Sonja Cries’ is ‘On My Own’’s less pretentious little brother. Again, the band teeters just the right side of overblown but you never worry that they will roll out the string section for the second chorus for no apparent reason…

All in all, given everything the band has gone through in the last 3-4 years, Civilized cannot be considered anything other than a massive triumph. It is no mean feat that stellastarr* has been able to produce three sets of 10-song records that are all magnificent and memorable at times while never outstaying their welcome. They also have unreleased songs that are better than what some bands put on their ‘Best Of’ albums (I’m thinking ‘Precious Games’ and ‘Damage Control’). Here’s hoping that this record is enough of a success to make a fourth album possible.

Finally got the album! Upped allowed me to just download it while I wait for the CD Bundle. I'm liking it a lot!

The CD is amazing. Robot is a great opener. Then Freak Out is my second favorite track on the CD, You can really tell the change in Shawn's Voice and its amazing. "Tokyo Sky" is a perfect ballot song, reminds me allot of "Lost in Time" but a little bit faster and with a different meaning.

Numbers feels like the darkest song the band has done so far to me, great use of Amanda's voice in this song with her echoing in the background.
"Graffiti Eyes" is easily a song I could hear being played at the beach
(or maybe in aquamarine II who knows :D ?)

"Prom Zombie" The best song on the CD. This songs needs to have a music video for it. I think this song would make anyone who would never give Stellastarr* a listen in the past a reason to go back and give them another listen. "Warchild" Another darker song on the CD, it sounds like a sequel to numbers and is very catchy and more up tempo then numbers.

"People" Im not sure how I feel about this song. It has a good chorus but not one of my favorite Stellastarr* songs. "Move On" sounds like "Love and Longing" meets "A Million Miles".

"Sonja Cries" Easily the most heart felt song on the record, This song reminds me more of there previous CD then any other song on the CD.

My bundle isn't supposed to arrive until friday, but I got sent the download code today and have gotten through the album a couple times. It's grabbed me a lot faster than the previous two records. I have a feeling that Civilized might ultimately pass their debut for me (but that remains to be seen). I'm certainly crazy excited to see the band in Cincinnati in a week.

Just got it and listened to it for the first time. Highlights would be Numbers, Graffiti Eyes, Prom Zombie and Warchild. I think it'll take me a few more listens before anything seems better than Graffiti Eyes though.

Just got it and listened to it for the first time. Highlights would be Numbers, Graffiti Eyes, Prom Zombie and Warchild. I think it'll take me a few more listens before anything seems better than Graffiti Eyes though.

That's exactly what I thought for the first couple listens too. The People has grown on me (especially the beginning) but Graffiti Eyes is so good.

You know, I think I've already changed my mind. 'Robot' is so damn awesome... what an opener. This album definitely demands many listens.

I must be operating on a different wavelength from the rest of y'all. Tokyo Sky and Sonja Cries are my favorites.