Orbiter

Sparks on a String (Loveless)

By Ashlea Halpern
Published: October 24th, 2002 | 10:08am

Orbiter needs to make a tough decision if it wants to continue making music, or more importantly, selling it. Orbiter is a "Renaissance" band -- mediocre at many things but not particularly good at anything -- as its sophomore long player, Sparks on a String, proves painfully true.

Former Hammerbox guitarist Harris Thurmond pulled singer Fiia McGann from Goodness after he heard her Beth Orton-ish voice shaking the walls of a Seattle karaoke bar. The pair linked arms with the rest of the band, but is torn in drastically different directions on the inconsistent Sparks. What begins as a preprogrammed, keyboard-soaked down-tempo album climbs skyward with ambient pop hooks and spacey trip-hop styling, but sadly plummets to the ground under the weight of heavy shoegazing rifts and noxious harmonizing. The resulting sound is a frustrating jumble of styles, more Jewel than Portishead, more roll than rock, and more irritable than experimental.

Sparks on a String lacks substance, and while songs about apple trees and sea dragons are welcome in the pop world, pure indie rock demands good old-fashioned proselytizing. Slipping Channing Pollock quotes between tiresome drum loops and fuzzy keyboards simply doesn't cut it. McGann's sultry voice is the album's only saving grace; its soft-boiled rasp on numbers like "Understood" is as soothing as slinking into a tub full of steaming hot water. McGann should do herself a favor and consider a solo career.