The Stars of Heaven - Speak Slowly

The Stars of Heaven released their second album in 1988.  It opens in far more strident a fashion than anything on Sacred Heart Hotel with a big, brash slab of jangly rock and roll, Unfinished Dreaming.  In fact there are a few rockier numbers in the vein of an alt-country Replacements, by way of Green On Red with a little dash of The Cult of all things, notably the track 28.  Little England and What Else Could I Do are like classic IRS-period REM.  The country influence is particularly strong on the pedal steel and fiddle enhanced Paradise of Lies, while despite the prominent accordion,  2 O'Clock Waltz is really rather good. The gorgeous Johnny Marr-style picked and jangled guitars of Leave As You Came might be the best thing here, though moody closer Ghost Cars gives it a run for its money.  There are no dodgy tracks here, tracks like Every Other Day do a fine line in non-cheesy country-rock.  The only snag is currently this album is very hard to track down.

The Stars of Heaven - Sacred Heart Hotel

Dublin band The Stars of Heaven released their debut album in 1986.  This was surely the era of the jangly guitar, even more so than the sixties.  It opens with the hushed clear, crisp guitars of the title track and Stephen Ryan's spooked-out vocals, with a very countrified feel which rocks a little towards the end.  Talk About It Now is a gently swaying country-rocker with a gorgeous guitar solo.  Admittedly there are echoes of what early REM were trying to do at the same time, (as does the faster You Only Say What Anyone Could Say) but it's still a great song.  A slow build up introduces the almost Meat Puppets-style country stomp of Moonstruck, a theme they revisit later on Man Without A Shadow which may be a little too much of a hoe-down for some.  The songs are brief, mainly 2 or 3 minutes long.  So You Know rocks harder than anything else here, while maintaining a little debt to the Byrds.  These songs (especially Folksong) are late night classics, downbeat jangly guitar songs.  

CD versions of this feature the Holyhead EP which is just as good.  Opening with the heavily acoustic country-rocker Never Saw You we get similar variations on the palette established by the album.  After the brief, guitar picking instrumental Before Holyhead, they get a bit more rocking on Widow's Walk and Someone's Getting Tired of You.  But such sharp, crisp guitars, this band definitely deserves more acclaim.  Beg, borrow or steal this one, it seems to be impossible to find.

The Sewing Room - And Nico

The Sewing Room was a sort of off-shoot of the Stars of Heaven, the sort of softer side to them.  The debut album, released in 1995, starts with the gorgeous, lazy strum of Mobile.  Guitars here jangle like you wouldn't believe.  The spirit of early REM hangs heavy on this album, on tracks like the muted Stop The Rain and From Every Corner.  Delve is rockier (relatively speaking) though the dynamics remain tight, almost metronomic.  Pedants will be unhappy with the whispered singing on the comparatively propulsive Instrumental.

There really is some bloody lovely guitar on the likes of Detumescent, Miles Away and the laid back Kill Me,  the latter being one of the strongest tracks here.  Elsewhere, Lord Let It Be Over is a little morose 

For my money this is a stronger album than either of the Stars of Heaven albums.  Some of the songs such as Weekdays are a little too brief, only getting going before finishing.  They sound good but aren't given long enough to make an impression.  And 16 tracks is probably a bit more than anybody needs.

Good luck trying to find it.  There is a download available here: http://www.indiecater.com/the-sewing-room-and-nico/

The Drays – Look Away Down Collins Avenue – Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

http://nomoreworkhorse.com/2015/12/22/the-drays-look-away-down-collins-avenue-album-review/