As music fans, we expect a lot from our acts.
We pin our hopes on them and more often than not fall for the press headlines, ironically allowing ourselves to be set up for disappointment when they turn out not to be life-changers. We should be savvy enough to see such manipulation coming from a mile off, but the wheel keeps turning.
Feted as saviours of rock a few years ago, Starcrawler certainly had some advantages. Singer Arrow de Wilde’s parents are a drummer (Aaron Sperske, formerly of Beachwood Sparks) and a renowned rock photographer (Autumn de Wilde – it won’t surprise you to learn that the band were formed in LA). To top it off, they were able to enlist Ryan Adams on production. Yet it would be churlish to say that the band is a product of fortune; their self-titled debut album last year was a riot, the sound of Black Sabbath playing Ronettes covers. It was pop-punk at its finest, and that most underrated yet important of musical experiences: huge fun.
Thankfully, they haven’t reinvented the wheel for this sophomore offering. Glee oozes from the speakers, with added glam rock glitter. On Lizzy, de Wilde screeches like the love child of Bo Diddley and Courtney Love over furious party rock, while recent single Beat My Brains is almost literal, a marauding beast containing a key change any ‘pop’ act would be proud of.
Starcrawler’s live show is renowned for its theatricality, and these songs will translate well there. The sleazy Home Alone is what would happen if the Yeah Yeah Yeahs provided a remix for 1970s Iggy Pop – until the guitar solo kicks in and dramatically changes the mood. You Dig Yours is strutting rock backed by some apocalyptic drumming, and Tank Top recalls the chipper melodies of The Monkees. One can’t imagine the band have any reservations about taking to the stage with so much adrenaline-fuelled energy up their sleeves.
If there’s only so much superficial trashy rock and roll you can stomach, there is more depth than previously. No More Pennies adds some country guitar licks to the pot, and Call Me A Baby sounds like one of those gentle White Stripes duets that were found on most of their albums.
She Gets Around opens with a pulsing underwater bass which heralds a more sinister, serious offering, while Born Asleep is FM rock, complete with sky kissing solo. Hollywood Ending is fittingly the track that’s most likely to be found on a movie soundtrack, de Wilde’s double-tracked vocals lending a sense of emotion and depth as a tonic to her west coast drawl.
But these are exceptions. The order of the day is cymbal heavy, gloriously face-melting seismic glam rock. The rough edges have been sanded off to make Devour You more polished and refined than its predecessor and as such is a step up whilst also being a refreshing dose of cynicism-free guitar music.
Starcrawler are here for our hearts and they make it incredibly easy to give in. They’re not the saviours of rock, but they are the soundtrack to unadulterated hedonism, which adds up to much the same thing.
