Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Stars - Concorde 2
Canadian duo Stars stole their way into my record collection by way of 2004 single “Ageless Beauty” and despite checking the right boxes musically (Cocteaus and Prefab Sprout covering Pet Shop Boys in a fuzzy shoe-gaze style? Yes Please!) something about them just didn’t sit right.
I was hoping a live show might persuade otherwise but this wasn’t the case. In polo neck and sensible jeans, frontman Torquill Campbell though achingly sincere throughout, only grated with his jerky histrionics and their guitarist’s bolted on solos too frequently sat on the tasteless side of widdly-woo.
But although they may be hard to love, they are even harder to hate and the strength of most of the material was undeniable; “Elevator Love Song” positively glistened and “Take Me to the Riot” stood out with its thumping Smithsian chorus. A trio of softer numbers captivated in the middle of the set and with the intensity ramped up, the Concorde fell silent and even I had to succumb to their hypnotic charm.
posted by: Jim Brackpool @ 7:22 PM
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