Starling Electric
(Bar/None)
Judging from the billowing harmonies, the ratcheting guitars, the flower-y pop baroqueness of Clouded Staircase -- not to mention Starling Electric's clothes and hairstyles -- you'd guess maybe 1968. But no, while this CD is a reissue, it's of considerably more recent vintage, 2006 to be exact. No matter, it is paisley-patterned, mirror-shaded psych pop that, if it weren't born in California round about the summer of love, should surely be adopted by there.
The good news is that Starling Electric, out of Ann Arbor, may have recorded the wistful-sweet album of the summer here, balancing drifty, hallucinogenic hooks with beefy surges of guitar. It's not hard to see why Jon Auer is such a fan -- just check the massive, fuzz-coated guitar that opens "St. Valentines Day Massacre" or the delicate, folk-modal melody that erupts from it, just like those Posies melodies used to drift out of amp-blitzed pop riffs. Or why it appeals to Robert Pollard, who invited the band on a whim to open for him in 2006. Surely he heard something of himself in Starling Electric's power-chorded whimsies like "Black Ghost/Black Girl." You can make other, older connections, too -- to the fey tunefulness of the Zombies, the elaborately instrumented pop of the Left Banke, the Gaudi-fanciful pop towers of Love.
Still the main question remains is: is Clouded Staircase pastiche or instant classic? That is, does it work as a tribute to bygone styles or a free-standing contemporary achievement? Ten listens in -- and it's hard to stop with an album this enjoyable -- you may find yourself still wavering. But put it on again. Even if you can't answer the question, there's not a nicer way to spend a summer afternoon.
Standout Tracks: "St. Valentine's Day Massacre", "Black Ghost/Black Girl", "To Flunker With Love" JENNIFER KELLY
