Starflyer 59 -- Slow

8/10

As soon as Jason Martin slams the pedal down on that atmospheric, new-wave guitar lead 17-seconds into "Told Me So," the second track on Starflyer 59's 14th full-length album, Slow, it's clear he isn't messing around. Martin spent the first half of the 2010's inhabiting a boring, ambition-less indie dad-rock persona, but on Slow he's where a 20+ rock-veteran belongs, standing tall, bathed in the shifting light of his accomplishments, BUT STILL ROCKING. Instead of falling into that lame "Didn't you hear I'm retired now?" vibe, Martin is here to ambitiously tell his life story in eight well-paced tracks.
Slow starts things off that way, with Martin meticulously setting the stage with the titular opening track. He then blows the whole thing up with the atmospheric attitude of "Told Me So," while bringing that thick, nasty Dail/Many rhythm section back to the forefront. "Cherokee" then roars out of the gate with what feels like the fastest tempo of any song in Starflyer history, and a bassline from Steven Dail so energetic, it could rattle a corpse across the finish line. You know, you're racing across the desert with this song in your headphones, and all of a sudden, the sun-bleached bones around you take form and start running along with you. That's the image that sentence conjured, right?
From here, Martin does an excellent job of balancing the mid and uptempo, always rocking, looking at his past, but moving forward. There's a big new-wave influence here, with touches from every other vibe Martin's hit upon over his last 13 albums as Starflyer 59.
Slow closes with the incredible one-two punch of the hammer-fisted, lightning-quick, fuzzed out "Runaround," and the moody, slow, but incredibly powerful atmospheric uppercut of "Numb."

Do you suppose
The path of your life is chose?
That more of it's gone than coming
But you still feel the same?
Or do you suppose
Your life is in comatose?
With more staying than leaving
And nothing will change?

Was it really better back then?
Were there really less problems?
Or was it really that because then
You weren't so numb?
It's no good to be numb

Can you control
When good times will come or go?
If more are gone than coming
No one can say
Sometimes I feel
My life is like a contest
With nothing left to conquest
And nothing left to say

Was it really better back then?
Were there really less problems?
Or was it really that because then
You weren't so numb?
It's no good to be numb

This is exactly what I want from my aging icons. Not for them to settle into some safe dad-rockdom valley, but for them to stand tall, stay at the pinnacle, and send down their wisdom. All my imaginings are involving topography today. I think I need to get outside. Must be all that running I've been doing.

2016 Tooth & Nail Records
1. Slow 5:13
2. Told Me So 3:30
3. Cherokee 3:48
4. Hi Low 4:42
5. Wrongtime 4:30
6. Retired 3:20
7. Runaround 2:23
8. Numb 4:41