Starflyer 59 -- Gold

8/10

I'm sure you've heard of a sophomore slump, but have you heard of a sophomore downer? For comparison's sake, let's use one of Starflyer 59's old label mates, Slick Shoes. In 1997, Slick Shoes released an upbeat, optimistic debut. The next year, burned out on touring and whatever else, they released an angry, downer of an album, literally titled Burn Out. I don't think anyone in their right mind can put Starflyer 59's Gold in the sophomore slump category. The guitar layering is so labored, the lead lines and solos are so torturously meticulous, and the mood is so well-defined and cohesive. However, Starflyer's debut, Silver, despite the heavy guitars, sounds mostly upbeat and optimistic. The darker Gold most definitely does not.
All that said, with all these guitars and thick emotional tones I dare not go literal in sound description with Gold, other than to say that it sounds at times like there are even more thick layers of distorted guitars here than on Silver, though the dreamier guitar tones are still around, just a little darker, sadder, and sometimes meaner, spacier, warblier. In fact, these gentle, quiet moments actually feel more plentiful here. Also, there're abundant guitar solos, which don't really exist on Silver. The production is also rawer, with the drums sometimes (intentionally) almost just mixed into noise. Martin still sings in the high, slightly off-pitch tenor, but with just a bit more confidence here. The tempos are slower, and the songs overall less driving There are many unexpected gear changes. However, screw the literal.
Jason Martin is stuck on a lonely, worn-down, rusted out, dimly-lit space station, tinted gold, and rusted red. After completing his menial tasks for the day, Martin goes to the station's busted-up, barely-visited 50's themed diner, sits at a table alone with a cup of coffee, and, one elbow on the table, holds his tilted melancholic face to the side in the palm of his hand. There's a small window portal in the distance he stares out of, Earth the size of a lonely golfball in the rough of space. Martin looks off at his home world, thinks about someone he loves who burned him, misses them and feels conflicted, wishes he was there, but dammit, right now he's 50,000 miles away, and moping.
It's no wonder Martin recorded almost all of this alone, never leaving the studio for weeks.
Now if you don't mind, the moon's up, and I've got a window to stare out of. What a comfort Gold is. Can't help but get misty-eyed...or river-eyed when the penultimate track "Do You Ever Feel That Way" finally offers those reassuring upbeat tones. But here's some darker ones.


1995 Tooth & Nail Records
1. A Housewife Love Song 4:12
2. Duel Overhead Cam 4:38
3. When You Feel Miserable 5:07
4. You're Mean 2:04
5. Stop Wasting Your Whole Life / Messed Up and Down 5:03
6. Messed Up Over You 6:44
7. When You Feel the Mess 6:16
8. Somewhere When Your Heart Glowed the Hope 4:43
9. Indiana 4:26
10. Do You Ever Feel That Way 2:15
11. One Shot Juanita 4:37