Big Orange Crayonmusical thingsBrittle Stars Brittle Stars Shelflife Records I haven't used the word "stunning" in a review yet. I think I must have been unconsciously saving it for this album. "Stunning" is the one word that keeps popping into my head every time I hear this album. Well, "stunning" and a whole bunch of excited gibberish that I probably couldn't reproduce here. This is one of the greatest albums I've ever heard. It combines the spacey, dense, atmospheric haze of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless with the soft, emotive pop feel of Marine Research in a way which is both overwhelming and subtly brilliant. I really believe that this could be the Doolittle of indie pop. The one album in a genre that is the perfect expression of everything that it can be. After listing to "You Went In Phases" over and over again, I don't thing there is any person out there that would not be absolutely in love with this album. I can see metalheads crying to this song, evangelical preachers coming down from their pulpits and being honest with themselves, lulled by its dream-like beauty and sweetness, frat boys sobering up to be able to concentrate on the notes... and so on. It will probably be (maybe even along with me) ridiculed in Pitchfork, but if you happen to like beautiful music, there is no other possibilty: you will not be able to live without this album. You will hear it in your sleep. You will play it when you get up in the morning, when you get home in the afternoon, and before you go to bed. A bit low fi and very dreamy, this album is the direct opposite of 80s hair metal. The Brittle Stars possess a power more wonderful than almost any other band to use a distorted guitar: they can use fuzzed out sounds in a way that they are purely sweet and overwhelmingly gentle. On some of the songs there are just seas of fuzz that the other parts float (really, pardon me being overdramitic) on like flowers or tiny ships. It offers a direct view into the beauty that is possible through pop music. Total score: 4103 out of 4103 |