Categories : Electronica, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 Reviewer: Andrew Mitchell |
The Starlight Mints are one of a handful of bands from the bible belt that continually pokes their listeners in the eye with audacious indie pop. On their previous release, 2006’s Drowaton, the Mints unleashed their fun-house like antics in what would be described as restrained, compared to their new release, Change Remains. Here, they’ve pushed the edge with greater abandon and thrown in a heavy dollop of the macabre. Because such output would be considered quirky in the most offbeat of environments, it makes you wonder if such recklessness is somehow a rebellious response to the ‘new country’ sound that typically hearkens from suburban Oklahoma City.
Despite their eccentricities, The Mints have a knack for churning out instantly accessible melodies that are rife with hooks. On top of that is a large helping of sentimental ‘80s retro. Throbbing dance beats and heavy synth take the helm on ‘Natural.’ The vocal backup conjures up The Cure, circa 1983 just as the vibraphone riff does on ‘Black Champagne.’ But for the addition of blaring horns and tribal bongos, ‘Zoomba’ distantly echoes Queen and their best-loved foot stomping anthems. And if ‘Paralyzed’ doesn’t recall Bowie in his post Berlin Trilogy phase, I don’t know what does.
Now if only some sense could be made of such idiosyncratic lyrics. While songs like ‘Gazeratti’ and ’40 Fingers’ are clearly meant to be exercises in excess, the heavy freakshow sound sampling can become demanding on the senses with repeat listens. Still, with an endless stream of homogenized commercial pop continually flooding the scene, Change Remains provides a welcome relief and once again, The Starlight Mints keep the indie pop scene on its toes. Let’s just hope we won’t have to wait such a long time for their next potent dose of psychedelia.
