Search - Static Age :: Blank Screens

They'll paint you a picture, they'll sell you a scene.

Luke Rounda | Lawrence, KS | 10/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For a blank screen, the cover of The Static Age's new album, itself a play on a previous art motif, is rather striking: a giant red moon eclipsed by a forest of silhouettes. Hot on the heels of 2004's "Neon Nights, Electric Lives," these cats are back and up to their old tricks again. Expect use of chorused "Fascination Street" bass, unconventional-yet-subtle electronica technique, and the treatment of open lyrical wounds on a record's worth of moody, gothic retro that isn't quite dance but isn't quite rock, either.



Propelled by watery bass, synth strings and the delightful inclusion of a xylophone riff which imbues the dark lyrics with a haunting childlike quality, the title track gains steam from its initial drum thump, and locks into a tight bass-driven groove with overlaid vocal harmony for the climactic outro.



Other standouts include the galloping "Skyscrapers," and "Trauma," the guitar-heavy riffage bathed in hi-fi synthesizer and drum loops of which recalls the latest Stereophonics record, chased with Depeche Mode. Elsewhere, "Cherry Red" is among the most exuberant tunes this band has delivered thus far, opening with an upbeat string figure and taking off vocally in the choruses.



At their best, The Static Age concoct an almost perfect blend of '80s affectation and post-punk furor, but they seem incapable or unwilling to stretch this quality over a "modern"-length album. "Blank Screens" doles out nine tracks clocking in at under 40 minutes, and the record's momentum is simply lost after the sixth ("The Bluebird Room"). With more gut-wrenching epics like "Trauma" and "Vertigo," the song that likely put them on any maps they're currently on, The Static Age might be seeing fewer blank screens and more blank stares at their shows in the near future."