First star I see tonight
Starlight Mints
Drowatron
(Barsuk)
Was a time when Starlight Mints were hailed as knights at The Flaming Lips’ roundish table. Somehow, all identity has been drained.
Whichever band you’d like Starlight Mints to be, they’ll happily accomodate. Their third album, Drowatron, has a wealth of dexterity and range, mainly because each track sounds like a sampling of someone else’s sound. The heart of the album, in particular, might force you to eject the disc and read the label to make sure it isn’t a mix CD. “What’s Inside Of Me” tailgates Beulah’s The Coast Is Never Clear; “Pearls” is neo-mod Who or Action; Sufjan Stevens’ pensive folk is mined for “Seventeen Devils”; Danny Elfman of all people gets jobbed on “Rhino Stomp”; and “The Killer” comes off like Iron & Wine with the stomach flu. On the one hand Drowatron is great for road trips, but certainly not as a map.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: May 24th at Subterranean in Chicago.
Click here to download “Inside Of Me.”
