Stardeath And White Dwarfs - The Birth Album Review

Review of Stardeath and The White Dwarfs album The Birth released through Warner Brothers.

Oklahoma psychedelic rockers Stardeath And White Dwarfs have a good musical heritage. Not only have they been roadies for The Flaming Lips, but lead singer Dennis Coyne is the nephew of Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne - and it shows. Their sound is somewhere between The Flaming Lips and early Pink Floyd.

The Birth is their debut full length album and it's full of surprises. It flits between galloping falsetto (New Heat), melodic psychedelic ballads (Keep Score) and punk guitar. The title track illustrates the band perfectly with a slow burn intro that bursts into scuzzy punk guitar. Then, just to throw you completely, they drop in the brilliant bass riffs of instrumental Those Who Are From The Sun Return To The Sun.

I don't really get this record but I don't think you need to - it's a weird prog mix of punk rock and psychedelic noise. It has enough tempo changes to keep you hooked but without sounding disjointed and is strangely listenable.

3.5/5

Robyn Burrows