Stellastarr

Stellastarr*

HARMONIES FOR THE HAUNTED | RCA

By: MIKAEL WOOD

3/15/2006 6:59:30 PM

This New York foursome play darkly dreamy rock that strives to speak for its generation the same way Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” reflected the hopes and the heartache of the Breakfast Club crowd.

Of course, in the years since 1985 it’s gotten exponentially harder for a rock band to speak with that kind of authority — especially a band who’re part of an overcrowded Big Apple scene whose very saturation has guaranteed most of its acts (even better ones like Interpol) nothing more than a devoted niche, if that.

So though Stellastarr*’s second full-length resounds with big, ringing guitar chords and semi-profound lyrical sentiments courtesy of deep-voiced frontman Shawn Christensen, there’s something sad and futile about the music, a sense of purposelessness that tamps down its delay-pedal luxury. In “On My Own,” over sizzling guitar fuzz and a wan 6/8 beat, Christensen promises, “I’m doing the best that I can.” That might not be good enough.

Stellastarr* + Editors | March 20 | Roxy, 279 Tremont St, Boston | 617.931.2000