Album Review: Stars - The North

Stars
The North
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

For me, Toronto's Stars always seem to be in the shadow of other Canadian bands like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, sharing a similar set up and similar theatrical, slightly over-the-top sound, tailor made for large venues. Widely considered their masterpiece Set Yourself On Fire struck the right balance between bombast and control, and was a set of tracks that just felt like tried and true classics upon first listen. The follow ups to that record were not quite as successful; from the pretentious and dour In Our Bedroom After The War and the hopelessly muddled The Five Ghosts, it seemed Stars' ambitions had grown faster than their ability to realize them. Thus, it comes as a pleasant surprise how enjoyable The North turned out, finding the band playing things loose and free and sounding enervated once again. Toning down the bombast and arty excursions, Stars mostly gets back to basics, putting together a tight set of tracks that focuses on song craft and melody, with only a few missteps into grandiosity.

Right from the start you can feel a sense of energy returning with the handclaps and silly analog synths bursting at the seams in opener "The Theory Of Relativity."



These types of rushing, synth driven tracks on The North are definite highlights of the record and give the album needed pace and push. The soaring "Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It" rises on beds of lush synths and bouncy synth bass,



the poppy "Progress" bops along brisk drum programming and sparkling keyboards,



while "The Loose Ends Will Make Knots" shimmers and shines under and blinding array of electronics.



The North is not all synth reverential, there are plenty of more organic oriented tracks. Buzzy guitars bounce around the catchy pop track "Backlines,"



acoustic guitars blur into a driving force of electric guitars on the chorus of the gorgeous "Through The Mines,"



while ringing guitars sing out against a buzzy bassline on the stirring "A Song As A Weapon."



The only tracks that strive for more than they can deliver are the melodramatic "Do You Want To Die Together," and closer "Walls" attempts to end things on an epic Arcade Fire-esque moment but just sort of spins its wheels. Where it does work is when their ambitions go for a more muted tone, as on the absolutely stunning "The 400" which is built on a base of stark piano, treated guitars, and burbling electronics, featuring a haunting vocal turn.



The North is not the masterpiece that Set Yourself On Fire is, but doesn't seem to want to be, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Their ambitions following that record almost got the better of them, making them into something they really weren't. This is definitely a step in the right direction for the band, their joy is readily apparent throughout, and it is pretty infectious.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.