Stellastarr* Issue #25

Harmonies for the Haunted (RCA)

By Garin Pirnia
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 3:23pm

In the past few years, '80s music has influenced a plethora of bands, including New Yorkers Stellastarr*. The band's 2003 eponymous debut generated contagious pop-rock music redolent of '80s pioneers Pixies and the Cure. On their second album, Harmonies for the Haunted, Stellastarr* recycle their formula, except this time with a more mature and moodier sound as they struggle to find a signature voice.

The album kicks off with the hooky, angst-ridden "Lost in Time" with lead singer Shawn Christensen pining for lost love in his emotive Robert Smith falsetto against honeyed guitar chords. Christensen wears his heart on his sleeve throughout most of the album, rocking nonstop while describing situations of death and yearning. The songs ricochet from the gritty power rock of "The Diver" to the momentum slower "On My Own," the first unhurried song midway through the album.

Christensen's lyrics are enhanced by Amanda Tannen, who adds her lush vocals for background effect. All of the songs combine heavy anthemic guitars with pop rhythms, especially on "Precious Games," their best song that could easily be a forgotten Cure track. Some of the moroseness subsides on the penultimate "Love and Longing," which holds a gleam of hope for a pair of estranged lovers: "I'm drowning in the rain / Darling say the word and I'll stay."

Even though Stellastarr*'s sound hasn't progressed much in the past two years, they still churn out auspicious pop melodies with potential for evolvement.

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