It's ironic that out of a sea of flashy cover art and praise-happy press kits, the best album is a CD-R wrapped in an old Pabst Blue Ribbon 12-pack case and held together with duct tape. The band's name, The Starve, is hastily written in marker on the front. No press kit, no info...just fucking garage rock and roll in the best possible way. This is the music Greil Marcus masturbates to. It exists in a world where there is no such thing as the day -- only never-ending Saturday nights where the cigarettes never burn out.
This six song EP not only scores huge points for attitude; these songs are also damn well written and performed. Although their enthusiasm could make up for sloppiness, the music is surprisingly tight, especially as the Portland-based band recorded this EP only two months after forming. The first song, "Boys in the Band", is an anthem for the eternally youthful cockiness of Rock and Roll. I admit that I wouldn’t respond kindly if most other bands attempted to pull off this attitude, but singer Kip Manchester (C’mon! That name is just too good to be true!) manages to sound genuine as he delivers lyrics like
"We’re the stance you just can’t take. We’re the hearts that will never break. Still I want to see you shake. Cuz’ I know, I know, you want to make it with the boys - we’re making noise -- We’re the boys in the band..."
The song is inspiring, actually, because it comes off more like an innocent dream about this lifestyle than mere posing.
"Saturday Night" recalls Kinks-style rawness (a la "You Really Got Me"). The guitars have that sound I love so much - they’re not distorted from an effects pedal, but from cranking the clean channel to the max, Velvet Underground style. The group's personality is fully realized when Jennifer Fang’s (Amazing!) glaring Farfisa kicks into the mix, adding the perfect ingredient for authenticity. Kip also finds a female counterpart, Jeanine Haynes, to help him sing the classic lines, "What’s the point of true love when you got Saturday night? Saturday Ni-hi-hight - If it feels good baby it’s all right."
On "Pretty Lines", Haynes takes full control of the vocals, which range from a low, sexy talk-sing to something that sounds like an infant crying: "What you want is what I got - you can’t touch 'cuz I’m too hot. Boy, you better understand, if you touch me, you’ll burn your hand." Sizzle!
The EP ends with a slow, Grease-like ballad that eventually jolts into a reprise of "Boys in the Band", completing the circle. It is hard to tell if The Starve are nerdy high-schoolers who innocently started a band, or 20-something mods prancing around Portland. Either way works for me, but there’s something romantic about the mystery that takes you further into their pure rock and roll fantasy and makes this EP more enjoyable. So far, everyone I’ve played this for has fallen in love with the band. If you love rough-edged garage rock, this is what you’ve been waiting for. I would say these guys have an amazing future ahead of them, but hell -- they’re in their prime.
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