Starflyer 59 -- The Fashion Focus

7/10

Just in case you weren't sure from the non-monochromatic album cover, The Fashion Focus' first five seconds of drum roll and keyboard let you know that the stylistically staid Starflyer 59 of yore has completely passed away.
Gone are the walls of guitar noise, and in their place, a lighter, poppier sound, far more keyboard and piano, and more sophisticated song arrangements. The guitar tones here are mostly clean, with the surfy, island vibe making its appearances, and the heavier crunch stopping by a couple times as a special guest. While this may come as a disappointment for those about to rock, it's a delight just to hear that frontman, Jason Martin, can pull off this sound just as well as he could the heavier sounds from albums past.
Indeed, there's not a bad song in this bunch (though "A Holiday Song" is just a little too bouncy for my taste). Really, the only issue is pacing. After the upbeat opener, "I Drive a Lot," Martin immediately goes into the slow piano ballad, "We're the Ordinary." He picks thinks up with the ultra-cool, shades-on guitar-rock of "Sundown," but then immediately dials things back down with another piano ballad, "Fell in Love at 22." All four songs are wonderful, but the album continues in this sort of arhythmic motion, never quite creating a satisfying whole.
Martin seems to sense this, and unleashes a climactic hurricane of guitar in eight-minute penultimate track, "Too Much Fun," but it can't erase the memory that no satisfying musical narrative has led to it. With pacing like this, at 12 tracks, The Fashion Focus also feels a little overstuffed...maybe that's why Starflyer 59 released the leaner, meaner, nine-track Everybody Makes Mistakes just one year later...but I'll get to that next time.


1998 Tooth & Nail Records
1. I Drive a Lot 3:15
2. We're the Ordinary 4:16
3. Sundown 3:53
4. Fell in Love at 22 2:32
5. A Holiday Song (Happy Holidays) 2:08
6. All the Time 3:16
7. The Birthrite 3:19
8. Card Games and Old Friends 2:08
9. Shut Your Mouth 3:11
10. The Fashion Focus 3:16
11. Too Much Fun 7:42
12. Days of Lamech 4:30