stellastarr* -- Harmonies for the Haunted

7/10

After crawfishing season ended in the Spring of 2005, I had no plans of employment. That summer, I did some house-painting work for a couple of days, and some video-editing, but other than that, my coffers were completely empty. I've talked about that year ad naseum here, and outside of the summer, I was talking about it right here on The Nicsperiment, but I haven't really broached the topic of my financial situation that year...let's just say, it's a good thing I had moved back into my parents' house. By the latter part of the summer, I had aced the state civil service test and applied to numerous state jobs, and also taken the East Baton Rouge Parish Library Technician test, and applied for a bunch of those jobs, too, but received no call back. Then, Hurricane Katrina happened.
Before my electricity even came back on, I received a phone call from the Office of Family Support, who offered me a temporary job working with disaster food stamp candidates. This job was as emotionally taxing as any I've ever had, and it was a seven days a week, 12 hours-a-day affair, featuring 7 pm to 7 am shifts. Despite the wearying hours and heavy subject matter, I enjoyed helping people, and my mind really wants to be awake between 7 pm and 7 am, anyway. Also...7 x 12 = 84, meaning I was paid 44 hours a week at time-and-a-half. I went from going essentially four months without a dollar to my name, to what to me was filthy stinking rich.
Thankfully, I had the sense to put a little money away, but when my shifts switched to 7 am to 7 pm, and then a far more chilled out 7 am to 4 pm near the end of my 30-day appointment, I went music and DVD shopping. Before my post-college brokeness (I had student worker jobs then!), buying music and movies was my M.O., but I'd only bought maybe five albums that summer, and just about zero DVD's (the library was my great friend that year!). Now that I was flush with cash, I visited my old haunt, The Compact Disc Store (R.I.P.) to check out what I'd missed. While digging through the store's glorious shelves, which I can remember with not just photographic, but total sensory perfection, I thought about the indie/post-punk band, stellastarr*, and how much I enjoyed their debut. Lo and behold, stellastarr* had just released a new album, Harmonies for the Haunted.
I listened to Harmonies for the Haunted in a gloriously strange, bonus state of mind. 2005 is one of my favorite all-time years, and after going through all the hard stuff in the middle, those last few months featured a dawning realization that not only was everything going to be okay, but that my future was limitless. Harmonies for the Haunted sat among a huge stack of music in my car those last few months, and every now and then, in the mysterious midst of a joyous, if uncertain and unfamiliar dopamine haze, I'd say, "Oh, yeah, new stellastarr*!" and throw it on. Therefore, my opinion of Harmonies for the Haunted is a bit colored in personal positivity.
I mentioned in an earlier review that stellastarr* kind of came out of that early 00's New York City post-punk/Joy Division-worship revival. The band's debut features nods to that sound and some of those vibes, but also a lot of different song structures and guitar effects that set them just a bit apart. On Harmonies for the Haunted, the band trade a little of the punk grit for a more polished production and sound. This turns out to be an even trade, as the more fun and carefree attitude of songs like "Jenny" from the debut are certainly missed, but the more grandiose, stadium-rocking sound of huge sounding numbers like "Lost in Time" and "On My Own" are welcome. The songwriting is just as strong here as their previous work, and there's a big, fast-paced show-stopper, as well--this time it's "Sweet Troubled Soul." The chorus, which feels like the song builds up to forever until it earns it, climaxes with the line "I want to see your face in the reflection of my bedroom stereo," and holy cow does vocalist, Shawn Christensen sell that line.

With a huge, anthemic song like that blasting in my still-running '96 Thunderbird's speakers, after such an unbelievably eventful and turbulent year, I felt unstoppable.

2005 RCA
1. Lost in Time 4:31
2. Damn This Foolish Heart 3:30
3. The Diver 4:32
4. Sweet Troubled Soul 4:07
5. Born in a Fleamarket 2:34
6. On My Own 4:53
7. When I Disappear 3:48
8. Love and Longing 4:18
9. Stay Entertained 3:46
10. Island Lost at Sea 10:27