Spotlighting a track from SF59's fourth LP, "The Fashion Focus," this collection finds vocalist/guitarist Jason Martin toning down the noise in his noise-pop considerably. Earlier musical touchstones such as My Bloody Valentine and Ride yield to Bernard Butler a la People Move On during Martin's bittersweet title cut. The familiar wall of fuzz reappears only briefly, during "E.P. Nights."
"We Want it Bad," notable among four non-LP sides, suggests, dare I say, a melancholy swipe at 10cc's "I'm Not in Love." The instrumental "Traffic Jam" insinuates Chris Isaak at his most depressed. Though pretty, it risks becoming nearly as tiresome as its namesake at fourteen minutes.
While perhaps not a supremely confident singer, Martin sounds more comfortable with his breathy pipes than ever. He manages several nice melodies to complement his achy-echoey guitar lines.
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #78Reviewed by Doug Van PeltWow! Have you heard the news, oh boy! I think maybe Jason finally allowed himself to listen to a Beatles record or two! Regardless if the title track sounds like one of this century's most ground-breaking bands, this little EP features probably the best produced Starflyer song ever. Oh my gosh! I need to go back and listen to The Fashion Focus! How could I have let that album pass me by? The…The Lighthouse Unsorted 1999Reviewed by Alex KlagesFell In Love At 22 EP, the latest Starflyer 59 venture finds Jason Martin and crew wandering down familiar terrain - a mellow, laid-back groove that started somewhere between Silver and Gold that continues to appear more and more. The title track of this EP is essentially the same as the album version, as best as I can figure, and isn't really a "value-added" track in that sense, if you already…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Keith GilesThere's something about this band that exudes an untouchable cool factor. Is it the layered guitar effects that swirl around Jason Martin's husky, whispered vocals like ethereal smoke? Is it the disaffected attitude that permeates each unintelligibly sad lyric? Is it the gargantuan wall of distorted noise? No. It's none of those things separately, but the sum of each wound together in a lovingly…Similar sounding releases
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