Artist Profile: Stars of Track and Field
Look, I’m sorry. This is my first post here in an eternity (I mean, college is awesome, my bad) and I’ve done an awful job of earning my keep as the co-author of Good Weather For Airstrikes. Well, good news (hopefully): I’m back and not quite as good as before, but let’s call it rust. Anyway, the reason I’m here is because there’s this great band that I want you all to listen to, and they’re called Stars of Track and Field. If that name rings a bell it’s because it’s also the name of one of Belle & Sebastian’s most popular songs, or it could also be because they’re starting to pick up some serious steam in the indie-pop world as we anxiously await the physical release of their currently iTunes-only album, Centuries Before Love And War.
The album was initially supposed to drop on June 6th of this year, but the Portland, Oregon three-piece has switched record labels since that expected release date, jumping from Side Cho to Wind-Up Records. The follow-up to their acclaimed You Came Here For Sunset Last Year EP is now expected to come out in Spring of 2007, though you can buy the album from the iTunes Store right now. The album builds lush backdrops of instrumentation using a meld of Jason Bell’s dreamlike guitar work and soft electronic noises, but the true centerpiece of all Stars of Track and Field songs is vocalist Kevin Calaba’s voice. I felt it excessive to use the word “dreamlike” twice in one sentence, so I’m waiting until this sentence to describe Calaba’s voice as such (plus, if I were Derek I’d have described their music as “ethereal” five times by now, so I think you guys can deal); in fact, the word is a pretty apt description of Centuries Before Love And War as a whole. Though my first thoughts after hearing their EP and Centuries‘ lead single, “Movies of Antarctica”, built up unfair expectations for an album that is slightly more hit and miss than I’d have liked, the songs that hit are truly phenomenal.
“Movies of Antarctica” is a great single and one of the better slices of indie pop to grace my ears in recent memory. I believe the first half of the album to be better than the second, and the opening three songs set a standard that unfortunately isn’t achieved by the remaining seven. Opener “Centuries” starts the album off establishing the signature Stars of Track and Field sound, letting the listener know from the get-go what they’ll be getting from the album. The aforementioned high water mark of “Movies of Antarctica” follows, which crescendos with crashing guitars before quieting for a final refrain, leading in to a reprised version of the EP track “With You”. The new version is re-fit with more electronic flourishings, and showcases drummer Daniel Orvik’s skills. The real claim to fame of “With You” is it’s beautiful chorus, which grows in intensity throughout the song, climaxing in an epic closing refrain layering Cabal . Fourth song “Lullabies for a G.I./Don’t Close Your Eyes” shows off the band’s ballad abilities, and though it doesn’t approach “With You” or “Movies of Antarctica”, it shows the band isn’t just a one-trick pony. Unfortunately, the album begins a steady downhill descent from there. Not steeply, mind you, as there are no throwaway songs on the album, but the second half, which includes two largely unchanged tracks from the EP (Arithmatik” and “Say Hello”, the latter being my least favorite song on both the EP and the full-length), doesn’t approach the brilliance of the promising opening. Let’s just say, if this album ever sees a vinyl release Side B will be collecting serious dust compared to it’s superior counterpart. Regardless, Centuries Before Love and War is a good album well worth acquiring, and Stars of Track and Field is a band with a bright future that I’m very excited to hear more from.
MP3s:
“Movies of Antarctica” - Stars of Track and Field ((highly recommended))
“With You” - Stars of Track and Field
“Lullabies for a G.I./Don’t Close Your Eyes” - Stars of Track and Field