November 26 2007
Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War
Stars make elegant indie pop that doesn’t get nearly the amount of attention it deserves. Their arrangements are sprightly, carefully-constructed gems of guitar, bass, keyboard, and the dual vocals of Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell. Where their contemporaries are happy to plumb indie rock clichés, dreampop meanderings, garage sensibilities, or electroclash rave-ups with a narrow single-mindedness, In Our Bedroom After the War showcases Stars’s ability to stray beyond their polished pop style, incorporating bossa nova elements (”My Favorite Book”) and a lightly funky approach (”The Ghost of Genova Heights”) into the mix. Lyrically, In Our Bedroom After the War is a morose affair, focusing on human disconnection in the face of modernity (”Personal”), the disappointment of excess (”Take Me to the Riot”), and the heartache that results from the bitter realization that life isn’t all that was promised (”Life 2: The Unhappy Ending”). In Our Bedroom After the War is more than just a well-crafted, cohesive album of dark pop, it’s cathartic in the best possible sense.
