Stars Misfire
In Our Bedroom After the War

Stars is set to celebrate the release of its third album, but fans might be disappointed by a lack of innovation. In Our Bedroom After The War doesn't push boundaries, it's not profound, it's not going to save your life and it's not particularly entertaining.

In Our Bedroom After The War explores the same instrumentation, lyrical quality and art-school moodiness as Stars' previous releases. The band keeps writing the same song over and over again.

On this record, you can expect a repeat performance of wandering synth chords, a mild dance quality, romantic yet tortured lyrics and of course, clips of dramatic spoken word. As always, there are several songs about tortured love as well as an odd duet, "Personal," in which two characters answer a personal ad. The angst-filled fight song, "Take Me To The Riot," is the first single of the recording.

The best song on this album is "Today Will Be Better, I Swear!" It's an optimistic effort, similar to Set Yourself on Fire's "Calendar Girl." Leading lady Amy Millan's vocal talents shine on this track, while building instrumentation makes it into a kind of anthem.



(as published in the Dalhousie Gazette, Sept. 20, 2007)