Posted on: October 24, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

 

Starting out their “The Rising Horizon” with a track that recalls both The Nekromantix as well as 45 Grave, the end results of this debut by The Starvation is a retro-rock song couched in the rockabilly tradition. “Purgatory” is a bizarre mashup of Billy Joel, Bright Eyes, and the “goth Elvis” vocals reminiscent of Danzig. What comes to bear throughout a great deal of the disc, and really comes to prevalence during tracks like “One Way To Remind”, is the fact that The Starvations are influenced tremendously by the twin titans of American and Irish traditional music. “One Way To Remind” is influenced so much by these forces that the track feels more like a “Hootenanny” track than a “Birthing” one.

The drone present on the sub-two minute “Dare You To Forget” is a welcome change of pace from the rest of the disc, although the track (due to its length) seems more than a little syncopated. I do not know how much extra The Starvations could have added on to this track, as drone is more than tricky to create a track that does not bore their fans to tears. The shuffling beat and yelping vocals of “Where Was I?” couches the band in a late 70s British style, with the band exhibiting the general sound of punk rock heroes like The Adverts. Something that works continually in The Starvations’ favor is the sped-up tempo of the disc, which means that the 11 tracks on “Gravity’s A Bitch” top out a shade below twenty-six minutes. The different genres covered by the bands further ensure the destruction of any possibility that their fans would become bored with the disc.

Continuing their seventies sound with “Nightshade Sweats”, the experimentation that The Starvations do with tempo on the track really make this a “must-hear”; the track starts, stops, and the band is able to maintain their lock on the listening base. Solid production is the key to ensuring that the equally talented instrumentation of The Starvation is not hampered in any way, and “Gravity’s A Bitch” sounds as well done as any pop album, even if the music continually challenges the establishment at every turn. Overall, the disc reminds me of the classic BBC show The Young Ones – always entertaining, and with very iconic characteristics (that are much different from each other) that allow listeners to latch onto one specific thing.

Top Tracks: This Poison, Dare You To Forget

Rating: 6.8/10

 

/  Gold Standard Laboratories / 11 Tracks / http://www.goldstandardlabs.com/starvations/starvations.html /http://www.goldstandardlabs.com /

Leave a Comment