stellastar*: stellastar* – stellastar*

Like most of the other hot bands coming out of New York these days, gleefully hopping that baby step from grungy Williamsburg practice room to much-hyped major label debut, stellastarr* makes highly derivative music. The band’s obvious influences include but are not limited to: Television, early Talking Heads, The Pixies, and The Cure. Luckily, frontman Shawn Christensen has the style to pull it off and, driven by his charisma, stellastarr*’s self-titled debut is an entertaining, if entirely predictable, listen. Plus, the band has endeared themselves to me by naming a song that sounds kind of like Pulp “Pulp Song.” Now that’s classy.