From the dazzling liquid guitar loops of "Mercurial Girl" to the analog synth telegram embedded in "What Planet Are We On?," Five Star Fall tricks out its sparkling pop with lots of satisfying sonic detail. This band really layers and lather up the sound with old effects pedals, Kraftwerk-era drum machines, and hall-of-mirrors samples that work well with their upbeat, almost retro sense of wonder. Gordon Deppe's voice is as buoyant as ever, as is his kaleidoscope guitar work. The tracks are tight, polished, and impeccably arranged. Plus, Tom Lewis somehow manages coaxes synth-like groans from an old Fender bass while Michael Shotton delivers fast, intricate rhythms in the way that only a drummer with real heavy metal experience could. Melodic and meteoric, the well-crafted songs of Five Star Fall seem always to be rocketing forward toward some better tomorrow. Catch them if you can.
m3u audio streams (if the flash player above doesn't work for you): [hifilofi] Play all tracks as an m3u audio stream (or xspf, ogg, mp3 file)
[hifilofi] 01-Mercurial Girl (3:57)
[hifilofi] 02-What Planet Are We On (4:05)
[hifilofi] 03-Five Star Fall (3:45)
[hifilofi] 04-Headphones (3:44)
[hifilofi] 05-Between 2 Floors (4:28)
[hifilofi] 06-Sonic Boom (4:19)
[hifilofi] 07-Automatic Ordinary (4:02)
[hifilofi] 08-Star Dot Star (3:17)
[hifilofi] 09-Song Number 9 (2:57)
[hifilofi] 10-Turn The Light On (4:24)