While at the Stellastarr* show last night at the El Rey, a strange thought crossed my mind: why is there so much girl on girl action going on here? I mean really, what is it that attracts lesbians to the band? It can only be the eye candy on the bass, which I have to admit, is impressive if not distracting. The atmosphere was further charged by screaming teenage girls and the typical horde of non-plussed hipsters, which isn’t surprising given now that RCA gave the full treatment to their second album. The first album they picked up midstream from Tiswas Records a one man show who did a very limited release of their first ep. In a way it felt like too little too late. Stellastarr*’s opportunity to make the huge splash on the indie scene that their first album deserved has passed and left them picking up the pieces in their second album, a sophomore attempt that has morphed into a second tour for their first album. In the first set, In the Walls, Jenny, Somewhere Across Forever, A Million Reasons, and Moongirl eclipsed the new tracks, followed in the encore by a rousing My Coco to close the show. Summarizing the scene was Shawn Christensen’s question after Somewhere Across Forever, asked in an enthusiastically wry, slightly sarcastic and tired voice, “So do you want to hear Jenny?” The crowd responded with wild screams and cheers, jumping up and down, hands in the air. I think there was some dry humping (can you call it housing at a indie rock show?) going on during the ensuing frenzy.
One thing for sure is that the band was there to rock out, and they did so on nearly every song. They concluded each tune with a slumping exhaustion that made me wonder what all the yelling and jumping around was really about. This was only extenuated by the muddy acoustics that reminded me of a pep rally in a high school gymnasium. In the end, the excitement of hearing No Weather and Coco for the first time live swept me away into the Dionysian intoxication of the crowd. Check the fancy web update.
