Starflyer 59 -- Americana

9/10

Hey, what's this big drum roll, and this huge, bluesy, victorious guitar line pouring out of my speakers when Americana starts? It appears Jason Martin is sick of going into the studio and hacking it out alone. Americana is a full band experience, the first one of those in Starflyer 59's career, with a drummer and bassist joining Martin in the studio to record. "Things will all work out," Martin seems to belt out over and over again on opener, "The Voyager," a shockingly optimistic sentiment sung in a shockingly confident voice. Martin's tenor is a little deeper here than it used to be, and far less pitchier than anything on the band's first two albums. As Martin rides a groovy, "I just peeled out in my Harley" guitar-solo through the end of the song, and into the huge, driving, fuzzy, surf-tinged-intro of "The Hearttaker," it's immediately apparent the opening track was no fluke.
Americana is an entirely different beast from Starflyer 59's first two albums. "The Hearttaker"'s gleeful stops-and-starts and keyboard flourishes sound like the work of an entirely different band...only they don't. There's still this intangible Martin factor, a quality to his guitar riffs and leads, the tone of his voice, that are distinctly Starflyer attributes. And by the gentle, yet driving bliss of midnight-full-moon over some romantic tropical ocean-evoking "Harmony," who cares if it's different from Starflyer's past, stellar work--this is a killer album. Americana rocks out harder than any of the band's previous albums (I wish the outro jam of "You Don't Miss Me" would go on for another 30 minutes), but it gives plenty of time to parcel out gentle slow dance tracks like "You Think You're Radical" and "Help Me When You're Gone" that would and possibly did make Mazzy Star jealous. This album changed the course of Starflyer's career--now they could be just about anything.
I don't feel like I properly conveyed what this sounds like. How about a class reunion where you've still got all the feelings you had 10 years ago? Casually and politely discussing your impending divorce with your future-ex in the kitchen in the morning? Surfing a wave to a palm-lined beach.


1997 Tooth & Nail Records
1. The Voyager 4:38
2. The Hearttaker 4:06
3. Harmony 4:22
4. All You Want Are the Things I Need 4:00
5. You Think You're Radical4:08
6. The Translator 2:56
7. You Don't Miss Me 4:45
8. The Boulevard 2:29
9. Help Me When You're Gone 5:04
10. Everyone but Me 4:46