Stars Set Yourself On Fire Arts & Crafts, 2004 amazon

What if Steven Merritt had spent the last three years listening to nothing but Broken Social Scene's You Lost It In People? Or if Sam Beam had become obsessed with Metric? The answer may be Set Yourself on Fire, the 2004 third album by Canadians Stars. At first glance many of the songs resemble the bouncy pop of fellow canucks Metric, such as the title track with its swiftly rolling bassline and synthesizer touches. However, scratch the surface and you find an undercurrent of gray that gives Stars' compositions a uniqueness among their pop peers. The band is certainly not reticent about adopting some of the lo-fi noise their labelmates (and incestuous collaborators) Broken Social Scene has applied to great effect. An upbeat song like "Ageless Beauty" is given a completely new feel by adding reverb to the vocals and incorporating a wash of noise just below the main vocal and guitar harmonies. Moreover, as i've said before there's a goldmine of possibilities awaiting anyone who can better integrate the sound and attitude of Miles Davis Death of Cool-era jazz into modern indie music. Stars (among others) have provided such an indication on songs like "The Big Fight". Perhaps the most fulfilling aspect of Set Yourself on Fire is the evolution a song such as "Soft Revolution", beginning with relatively conspicuous 80's-esque synth lines, and adding in more sophisticated elements like the aforementioned jazz trumpet and noise ebb and flow. You hear so many songs on the radio that take that first step (melody? check) and milk it for three minutes, and bang you've got a single. Stars undertake the more difficult but infinitely more gratifying chore of producing compositions, and the listener reaps the rewards of their effort.

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