Starlight Mints
The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of
[SeeThru Broadcasting]
Rating: 7.7
I've always liked to believe that everyone lives with at least one secret
shame. Some past secret, perversion, like, or dislike that has been kept
hidden, for fear of embarrassment and public stoning. But listening to the
Starlight Mints, I feel I must now make my horrible, horrible secret known
to the world:
I hate mint.
This may come as a shock to those of you chewing violently upon your 18th
stick of Wrigley's Spearmint today. But those that have taken mint for
granted have no idea how difficult it is to go through life barely being
able to stand the stuff. Until a few months ago, I was still using Sesame
Street toothpaste. And don't even get me started on candy. Finally,
though, I've found a mint I can tolerate. A firm, robust mint that's
remarkably palatable, if, at times, a bit too saccharine.
The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of is a short, well-sequenced offering
of punchy orchestral pop. And orchestral pop can be risky business, which
is why "string section" is a favorite rock and roll punchline. But when
The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of is at its best, it manages to
reap all the benefits of the genre-- a full, expansive sound, and layers
of contrasting melodic lines-- while avoiding the self-indulgence that so
often foils their orch-pop contemporaries.
"Submarine #3" kicks off the record with a small quartet accentuated by
an intensifying drum beat, summoning the spirit of Bacharach past. But
aside from some distorted falsetto vocals that might be better suited
for fellow Oklahoma natives the Flaming Lips, there isn't much to discuss.
Frontman Allan Vest possesses a down-to-earth voice that seems perfectly
suited to this kind of music: relatively expressive, and always on key.
"The Bandit" is a similarly structured song, relying upon big, open major
chords and string accents to create a thoroughly charming pop sound. But
the not-so-amusingly titled third track, "Sir Prize," breaks away from
this formula slightly, by implementing fractured song structure and
quirky slide guitar riffs. This element of quirk also makes its presence
known on stronger tracks like the suspiciously Flaming Lips-esque "Valerie
Flames," as well as chewed-up bubblegum numbers like the aptly titled "Sugar
Blaster."
As a whole, The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of sounds great-- Enon
and System of a Down producer Dave Sardy gives it a studio punch that
may pale in comparison to the work of Dave Fridmann, but is nonetheless
impressive. So, yeah, I'll happily listen to the Starlight Mints every
once in a while, even if they haven't reached the point where I feel
comfortable brushing with them.
-Matt LeMay