You know you’re getting old when the bands you listen to know they’re getting old.

Lyricist and sole founding member of Starflyer 59, Jason Martin, has a unique approach to lyrics. They’re like messages written on a napkin or a post-it page. They’re succinct and aren’t terribly flowery. The neat trick of SF 59 is the music the bite-sized verse is couched in, both catchy and hook-driven, which is good because the topics on the latest release “Old” are not the most pleasant. Commercial envy, infidelity and the physical pitfalls of aging all get a turn on the disc and are all done with Martin’s signature low, breathy croon.

More intriguing, Martin seems to be doing his version of Pop Music by the decade. The last full-length, “Leave Here A Stranger” seemed to be a tribute of sorts to the “Pet Sounds” era Brian Wilson and Phil Spector touchstones. Under producer Terry Taylor, even the sound, faithfully recorded and reproduced in mono, bared that out. With “Old”, the stereo spread is wide and spacious, the strange effects laid into the tracks shimmer and shake and, overall, if you had to apply a “for instance” to it, you could say it’s “Ziggy Stardust meets the Warm Jets”. Poor Old Lu’s Aaron Sprinkle worked as co-producer and, frankly, isn’t this guy too young to know what “Old” should sound like?

“Underneath” starts things with a glam rock, “Jean Genie” stomp and it sounds like a lot of fun until you get a whiff of what Martin’s saying; wisdom always comes too late to use it. “Major Awards” is about how the band never seems to win any. “First Heart Attack” is pretty matter-of-fact too and, no, there’s no going back to the halcyon teenage days. Other bands probably would have turned these songs into utter dirges and so it’s to the band’s credit that you can still listen to the disc without forming suicidal urges.

Supporting Martin this time around is SF 59 veteran (meaning he’s stuck around for a couple recordings) J. Cloud on the bass, R. Swift on the keyboards and former Fold Zandura drummer F. Lenz. The band sounds tight, but in the era of modern recording, almost everyone sounds like that. I think I would have preferred a bit of a looser feel, like what was found on the previous release, the “Can’t Stop Eating E.P.” and, specifically, the alt.-country track “Happy Birthday John”.

The big winner on the disc, for me, is “Passengers”, with a big guitar hook and a common theme of envy and being tied down to commitment. “…I wanna be like the passengers / who wave goodbye / wave goodbye” is a universal theme for anyone who have grown to the point where impulsive behavior simply won’t do anymore, no matter how badly you want it to.

As previously stated, Martin tells it like it is and doesn’t go crazy with description, making it all easy to relate to. This may be the problem with “Old”, insofar as it hits too close to home. “…Stranger” focused on the trials and tribulations of losing the love of being a musician. Listeners were outside looking in. This time around, we’re all in this support group, telling our story, losing our keys and our hair and, basically, getting old. It doesn’t draw the listener in and back again quite as easily. It’s a worthwhile CD and the band, such as it is, is in top form. But no, the girls in the belly shirts and hip-hugger jeans at the mall don’t think you’re “the bomb”; they think you’re “sir”.

“Old” is recommended for fans of 70s rock, SF 59 devotees and anyone who finds their back aching more than it used to, but it may not make you feel better about it.

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Starflyer 59

Old

Released: May 20, 2003
Origination Year: 2003
Time: 54:30
Tracks:10
Produced by: Aaron Sprinkle
Engineered by:Aaron Sprinkle
Mixed by: Aaron Sprinkle
Mastered by:N/A
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: None
Label: Tooth and Nail Records
Website:
www.starflyer59.net

Underneath
Major Awards
Loved Ones
Passengers
The Lights On
New Wife, New Life
Old
A Kissing Song
Unbelievers
First Heart Attack