Boy, gotta review them CDs.

I kind of surprised a colleague the other day when I referred to a recording as "eponymous", so let's just get that out of the way now. It means "self-named" and when I use it in the context of a compact disk title, I mean that the title of the CD is simply the artist's name. Technically, the title of the Beatles' and Fleetwood Mac's "white albums" are the bands' names, for example (and the singer Seal has released more than one eponymous disk, as has the band Weezer--thankfully, Weezer's are different colors...). Today's review is an eponymous disk by the American band, stellastarr*. Hey, the asterisk and lower-case letters are their idea, not mine!

stellastarr* is the band's self-titled debut album. They are clearly coming from New York at a time when there was a nascent revival of pop styles from the early 1980's and the band's sound reflects that then-pervasive interest. There isn't a huge amount of electronics in the sound of two guitars, bass, and drums, recalling those earlier times. But where the acts from the Reagan years used straightforward guitar rhythms (listen to The Cars for a while), stellastarr* indulges in occasionally more intricate patterns of plucked notes over rolling, kinetic drumbeats that give the grooves a nice forward motion.

But the real news with stellastarr*'s first album is not only a solid band sound, but some high-quality singing--a rarity in bands playing rock or pop music on smaller labels. Most of the vocal duties are handled by Shawn Christensen, who has a remarkable instrument, capable of sounding bright, yet deep, and executing vocal swoops that generate real excitement. Bassist Amanda Tannen adds her voice as a counterpoint or chorus now and them, although she's clearly working her sound as leavening to Mr. Christensen's remarkable singing. Most of the songs on the disk are brisk, catchy affairs, emphasizing a bit of minor-key anxiety here and there. The final two songs are an untitled slow song that add keyboard washes to the first sighting of acoustic guitars, and a tune that very much feels like an added bonus track (the sort that's usually "hidden"): a near-perfect imitation/not-quite-parody of the old British band, Pulp. Even without the clue of the title, this is a dead-on re-creation of the Pulp style of songwriting and arranging!

8 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Frank Sinatra: The Capitol Years, disk 2
• William Schuman: Symphony No. 10 (Gerard Schwarz conducting)
• Alexander Scriabin: The Symphonies, disk 3
• Train: Drops Of Jupiter
  
• Remy Shand: The Way I Feel