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Starflyer 59: Difference between revisions

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Starflyer 59 (view source)

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''(Ronnie Martin, meanwhile, went down his own path, and retooled Dance House Children into the one-man synth-pop band [[Joy Electric]], and was every bit as prolific as his little brother.)''
 
The debut album, ''Silver'', was reverb- and distortion-drenched pop-rock--either one of the final first-wave [[Shoegazing]] albums, one of the first post-Shoegazing albums. Sf59's subsequent albums leaned more towards lounge (''Gold'') and hard rock (''Americana''), but the shoegaze label stuck, despite Jason's reluctance.<ref>In [http://web.archive.org/web/20060109122655/http://www.velvetbluemusic.com/starflyer59/jm1.html Jason's own words]: "Shoegazer music has been dead since 1991. The only shoegaze music we ever did is maybe "The Zenith" from ''Silver''--even that wasn't current when it came out." And his default reaction to the inevitable [[My Bloody Valentine (Musicband)|My Bloody Valentine]] comparisons was a dismissive, "We're not nearly as brilliant as they were."</ref> After three albums (and some songs intended for a fourth album that were ultimately shelved), Jason decided that he'd finished saying everything he wanted to say with guitar distortion, so it was time to do something different.
 
Under the influence of the producer and keyboardist Gene "Eugene" Andrusco, Starflyer made an abrupt [[Genre Shift]] to a lighter, [[New Wave (Music)|New Wave]]-influenced sound with lighter guitars and melodic keyboards. Fans and critics were surprisingly receptive to the [[New Sound Album]] ''The Fashion Focus'' and its even lighter followup. Then, in 2000, Gene Eugene died.
 
Jason Martin pressed on, recording a series of albums which all employed wall-of-sound production in different ways. 2001's ''Leave Here a Stranger'' evolved the prior albums' pop into a synth-orchestrated [[Baroque Pop]] tribute to ''[[The Beach Boys|Pet Sounds]]''. 2003's ''Old'' was an energetic, effects-drenched mix of Space Rock and [[Dream Pop]]. 2004's ''I Am the Portuguese Blues'' was a weird throwback--the shelved post-''Americana'' demos re-recorded as [[Up to Eleven]] blues-rock. 2005's ''Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice'' was a mellower follow-up to ''Old'', backed by a live string trio.
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* ''Haunted Horse: Songs of Love, Defiance, and Delusion'' (2009)
 
'''Low & Behold''' is a [[Goth Rock]] / New Wave band, with Ryan Clark from [[Demon Hunter (Musicband)|Demon Hunter]] on vocals.
* "Blood Red" 12" maxi-single (2011)
 
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* [[Awesome Anachronistic Apparel]]: Back in the 90's, Jason took fashion tips from 50's greasers. For example, see the "Housewife Love Song" music video.
* [[Break Up Song]]: Nearly all the lyrics from ''Gold'' were lamenting the messy ends of relationships. Jason has insisted that the relationships in question were friendships, not romance.
* [[Chess Withwith Death]]: In the "No New Kinda Story" video, as a [[Shout -Out]] to ''[[The Seventh Seal]]''.
* [[Christian Rock]]
* [[Christmas Songs]]: While he's yet to record a proper Christmas album, Jason is the only musician who's recorded songs for every volume of Tooth & Nail Records' ''Happy Christmas'' compilation series.
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* [[Creator Breakdown]]: ''Gold'' is the soundtrack to a barely-averted nervous breakdown. Jason's bandmates departed after the ''Silver'' tour, leaving Jason to record the follow-up album almost completely by himself. On top of this, Jason was feeling messed up over some friendships that had dissolved. That claustrophobia you feel in the finished album? That's Jason nearly suffocating under his own high expectations.
** Though Jason denies it, there's some [[Wild Mass Guessing]] that his breakup with Leigh Bingham <ref>later known as Leigh Nash--yes, the lead singer of [[Sixpence None the Richer]]</ref> also played a role.
* [[Doing It for Thethe Art]]: Both Jason Martin and the record label. Jason has a day job; he's in this because he loves the music, not because he needs cash. And Tooth & Nail Records keeps putting out the albums, even though they're losing money on them.<ref>They're hardly hurting for cash, either, thanks to all the pop-punk and emo-hardcore they're selling.</ref>
* [[Ear Rape]]: The shrieking guitar feedback on "Dual Overhead Cam".
* [[Epic Rocking]]: "Traffic Jam", "Messed Up Over You", "Le Vainqueur", "Too Much Fun", "I Like Your Photographs".
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* [[Heartbeat Soundtrack]]: The end of "First Heart Attack".
* [[I Am the Band]]: Not only is Jason the only permanent member, but he played almost all the instruments on ''Gold'' by himself, to boot.
* [[Idiosyncratic Album Theming]]: The dedication to Jesus in every album's liner notes. The use of [[Only Known Byby Initials]].
* [[Idiosyncratic Cover Art]]: The ''Ghosts of the Future'' vinyl sleeves.
* [[The Invisible Band]]: At Jason's own request, he hasn't appeared in any Starflyer video since "A Housewife Love Song". The video for "I Win" goes so far as to substitute photogenic teens for the entire band.
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* [[Looped Lyrics]]: "Gangs of Riverside"--the title is also the song's only lyrics.
* [[Lyrical Shoehorn]] / [[Word Salad Lyrics]]: Whether the lyrics of a given song have any meaning is a toss-up; Jason always writes the music first and lyrics second. Even the songs that do mean something are frequently padded with lyrics that were penned solely to sound good.
* [[Lyrics Video Mismatch]]: "No New Kinda Story". The lyrics are pretty vague, but seem to be about the singer's life being no different from a story. The video is a tribute to ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'', with a man getting poisoned by his car's air conditioning and then losing [[Chess Withwith Death|a chess match against Death]].
* [[Melismatic Vocals]]: "Like [[Shane|Sha-a-a-a-ane]], he comes when he's needed."
* [[Minimalistic Cover Art]]: ''Silver'', ''Gold'', ''Americana'', ''Everybody Makes Mistakes'', ''I am the Portuguese Blues'', "The Brightest of the Head" single, the ''Minor Keys EP''.
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* [[Ominous Music Box Tune]]: On the song "Old".
* [[One Degree of Separation]]: Go re-read Starflyer's past and current roster. With possibly one or two exceptions ''all'' of those musicians have had respectable careers in other bands and/or as solo musicians. And then most of the people in ''those'' bands have also played in ''other'' bands, and that's not event getting into the ''album producers''... Southern California indie Christian rock rivals [[Shoegazing]] for the title of "The Scene That Celebrates Itself".
* [[Only Known Byby Initials]]: First on ''The Fashion Focus'', then on ''Leave Here a Stranger'' and every album since, the band members are only credited by their first initial and last name. Also results in unintentional [[Theme Naming]] on ''Leave Here a Stranger'': the band is credited as J. Martin, J. Cloud, J. Esquibel, and J. Dooley.
* [[Rockstar Song]]: Very common, ever since ''Everybody Makes Mistakes''. For the most part, they boil down to the fact that Jason sees rock music as a career built on frustration and futility.
* [[Self-Deprecation]]: Songs like "When I Learn to Sing" ("It's not the same when I try / it's just a bad lullaby") and "Ideas for the Talented" ("My ideas, they outweigh all the talent I own").
* [[Self-Titled Album]]: The first two albums were both officially named ''Starflyer 59''. ''Silver'' and ''Gold'' were the [[Fan Nickname|fan nicknames]], which were eventually used as the official titles for the re-releases.
* [[Shout -Out]]: Several.
** To two of his musical influences in "Minor Keys":
{{quote| [[Daniel Amos|Through the speakers]] and through the walls...<br />
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* [[Studio Chatter]]: It's not clear if it was intentional or an accident, but in "First Heart Attack" you can barely hear someone say "Stop" immediately before the song (and album) ends.
* [[Surreal Music Video]]: "No New Kinda Story".
* [[Talking to Thethe Dead]]: [[Magick|"Majic"]], addressing Jason's recently-departed father.
* [[Troubled Production]]: Owing to the departure of most of the band, and Jason's [[Creator Breakdown]], he barely finished recording ''Gold'' in time.
* [[Tyop Onon the Cover]]: One of the original printings of ''Silver'' spells the band's name as "Starflier 59" on the disc label.
* [[Un Installment]]: "Second Space Song", off the first album. A "First Space Song" was written for the next album, but it got cut and was only released on ''Easy Come, Easy Go.''
* [[Unplugged Version]]: Martin's song "Mr. Martin" started off as an electric guitar-heavy demo on the ''Ghosts of the Future'' boxed set, with a softer version on piano and acoustic guitar recorded as a B-side. Then when it came time to re-record the demos for the album ''Dial M'', the band decided they liked the B-side better, so the unplugged version became the official version. And then the next EP featured two more tracks from the album--"The Brightest of the Head" and "I Love You Like the Little Bird"--and a cover version of The Church's "Under the Milky Way", all performed in the same unplugged style.
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