MIRROR, SIGNAL, MANOUEVRE - Starky (Laughing
Outlaw)
Never heard the predecessor but Starky's first single for Laughing Outlaw
exploded out of the CD player like a sonic bomb sometime in early 2003. "That's
How I'll Know" was a perfect piece of guitar pop. Six months later, the
follow-up long player is here and it's no less impressive.
Starky are a four-piece from southern Sydney who've been kicking around since
late 1999. Like many Oz bands playing guitar-powered pop, they're probably better
known in some places overseas than their own backyard (Starky's chalked up two
US visits already), although exposure via cable TV's Channel V and on Triple
Jay might have redressed that of late. If the album title is a play on them
being under instruction when in the studio, I'm all for bypasisng their L plates
and fast-tracking them straight to gold licences. This is great by most measures.
Beau Cassidy has a strong, appealing voice that can stretch out at the right
time ("Get Up"). His guitar work and that of David Simons is strong
and big on dynamics. The engine room of Nick Neal (bass) and Graeme Trewin (drums)
thump like young guys on a misison. Cassidy is the main songwriter and writes
a neat lyric if you use a magnifiying glass to read the microscopic print on
the CD slick (must be a young man's trick on us old guys) or listen hard enough.
You get 11 tracks on "Mirror..." and there's not a clunker among them.
The killer single "That's How I'll Know" and another previously released
cut, "Complicator", have been re-recorded, and now boast a big beefy,
bottom end. The re-tooled "That's How I'll Know" (tracked in one take)
took a few spins to get used to but I'm now leaning in favour of the bigger
sound. Prior to his European sourjourn with Radio Birdman, co-producer Rob Younger
(co-credited with Wayne Connolly) was regarding this as one of his best efforts.
The whole album came together in nine days at Velvet Sound in Sydney and the
spontaneity is intact.
While it's tempting to draw a parallel between the titles of "City Prison
Doors" and "Jail Guitar Doors", I was sniffing a gentle whiff
of the Clash before I even saw the track listing. Ditto the vocal in the verse
on the hooky "Girl Talk". (At least I hope it's the Clash and not
those pale imitators Rancid. I might be totally off the mark anyway). Nowhere
as raw but striving for similar energy levels as Joe and Co, Starky very definitely
recall the best of the Happy Hate Me Nots (one of the most underrated bands
on the Australian circuit in the late '80s and early '90s).
It seems everyone staking this guitar-pop turf has to have a mid-album ballad
and "Tabards" fulfills that role but it's the uptempo cuts like the
sparkling "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" and "Breakdance Glove"
(a tribute to Jam Jay Master Jay - run that past me again?) that win the day.
"Mirror, Signal, Manouevre" mines a crowded vein but is punchy enough
an effort to stand out from the crowd. It's an album that doesn't wear out its
welcome and will hold up to repeated playings.
- The Barman
TH
AT'S
HOW I'LL KNOW YOU - Starky (Laughing
Outlaw)
A rush of guitars and Beau Cassidy's plaintive vocals kick in; by the first
turn you realise you're listening to a goodie. Come the home straight and if
you have ears you'll be reaching for the repeat button. It's that good.
A guitar blast that streaks past the winning post in three-and-a-half minutes,
with the great Wayne Connolly applying the production whip (so you know it sounds
good). Sydney four-piece Starky are as brash as guitar pop comes, with a nice
heavy hand. "That's How I'll Know You" is an absolute balls-out, stand-out but
the downcast pop rumble of "Don't Wanna Know" isn't far behind in the killer
song stakes. They've both graced recent compilations that that have mertited
airtime at the Bar. Shit, the other track "Complicator", with chunky counterpoint
guitars, ain't no slouch either.
That's right; you only get three tracks. It's a CD-single. But the songs - they're
all good 'uns, all tuneful guitar hooks and not unlike Teenage Fanclub.
The back story: Starky contain half of Pennidredful, a pop-rock act from southern
Sydney who put a few things out on the latter-day Phantom label. Starky
have a claim to fame in that they were supported at the old Iron Duke Hotel
in Sydney by The Vines (who got their first-ever encore at that show, which
was one of the few gigs they played before fame found them).
Here's hoping Starky will be stayers. This is their second single and an album
is imminent. A US tour, airplay in their home country as well as France and
Japan under the belt. It's a hard world to get a break in but given an even,
dry track you just never know. - The Barman