In late '65 Brian Wilson heard The Beatles' Rubber Soul and was immediately inspired to create an album that would either match or surpass it. So came Pet Sounds in '66, an album that — with its numerous layered vocal and instrument tracks, melodic bass lines, and unconventional and orchestral arrangements — reached the height of composition and production in its day, and would later influence The Beatles in the making of Sgt. Pepper's..., another landmark album.
While the quest for true originality is more or less pretentious and futile, what with rock 'n' roll having been with us now for well over half a century, the "nuclear arms race" between bands and musicians is more or less a thing of the past. It's no longer about making archetypical records — anyone with sense will admit that all music is derivative. Originality, in our day, consists in successfully putting a fresh spin on what originated with one's predecessors and, in a few cases, what contemporaries have already done. That said, SF59's new record, Leave Here a Stranger, deserves the term in the highest sense. Critics have been hailing it as another Pet Sounds for months. And it's deserved.
Whereas Pet Sounds was about drifting out of one's teenage years, love affairs gone awry, bouts with melancholy, and youthful hopefulness, LHAS is a concept album exploring front man Jason Martin's apprehensions and weariness with making records and living a musician's life. Which is something of an irony, considering it will undoubtedly be SF59's most successful record of their seven-year career — this one could take them far.
Having long since forsaken a 'shoegaze' sonic, LHAS follows suit, with a finely wrought blend of influences like The Beach Boys, New Order, The Smiths, Joy Division, and, well, recycled SF59. The album opens with slight static and flows into "All My Friends Who Play Guitar," a dreamy song that accentuates Martin's talent with melody, and brings to mind glimpses of tired, disheveled bands traveling all around America on buses and red eye flights, pondering and living the rock 'n' roll dream.
Terry Taylor's production on LHAS is impeccable — the vocals are more up front and audible (Martin also gives his best vocal performances to date), the strings don't come off as synthetic as they did at times on Everybody Makes Mistakes, and the drum mixing has come a long way since Gold — sonically LHAS is expansive.
Although it's a completely consistent album (imagine what EMM could have been, were it more purposeful, complex, and cohesive), other high points include the graceful downtrodden urgency on "Give Up the War," which is possibly the saddest song Martin's written. "I Like Your Photographs," where Martin morosely sings "Everyone needs a place in the sun..." amidst airy background voices, low X-Files-esque whistle, brooding piano and strings, and tremolo heavy guitars, recalls the other side of the coin of The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun."
LHAS concludes with the spacey, sweepingly melodic "Your Company," a lush, atmospheric throwback to Americana, sailing out on a jam before slowly disseminating. If any listeners do leave here a stranger, they've only been alienated in the highest sense of the word.
Other coverage for this album
ReAL Magazine 2001Reviewed by Nolan K.Here's what Jason Martin (Starflyer 59's guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and backbone) is up against: eight years ago the mysterious blank-silver cover of Starflyer's self-titled debut appeared on the music-store shelves. The album, commonly referred to as Silver, became an instant favorite, established Martin and company as a musical force to be watched, and proved once and for all that…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Ken MuellerIf you surf the internet for Starflyer 59 you will find more and more interviews with Jason Martin where it sounds as though he is very close to hanging it all up. He sounds tired and bored...of everything: the music industry, being in a band, recording. Leave Here a Stranger is to Starflyer 59 as Pet Sounds is to the Beach Boys...or so some critics would have you believe. And Martin says that…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Jon KortebeinSome songwriters, like Terry Taylor or Bob Dylan, have a love affair with words. Others, like Brian Wilson, place their fascination in the world of sounds. SF59 leader Jason Martin falls into the latter category, and he exercises this fascination more obviously on Leave Here a Stranger than on any other SF59 recording so far. The result is a beautiful record that is at points catchy, dreamy and…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Alex KlagesA quick glance back at Starflyer 59's career demonstrates a band which is truly a work in progress. The first album was a noisy, layered sonic landscape, with guitars everywhere. Flash forward eight years, to 2001 and the release of Leave Here a Stranger. We still have the noisy, layered sonic landscape, but what a difference time makes! On Starflyer 59's latest outing, the band is now a…Similar sounding releases
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