Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice

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Starflyer 59

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Veteran alternative rockers Starflyer 59 have returned once again with their latest album, "Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice". Unlike the stripped-down hard rock of their previous classic "I Am The Portuguese Blues", "TV vs. SV" finds the band adopting a decidedly more layered approach. The emphasis is on mood and orchestration with several tracks featuring a live string section, horns and synths. The sound captured on this disc is not too far removed from bands such as New Order with a slight hint of The Smiths and early U2.

Tracks such as "The Contest Completed", "A Good Living", "Softness, Goodness" and "Something Evil" are darker in mood but feature some of bandleader Jason Martin's best writing yet. "Night Life" has a feel that teeters on the verge of sounding like Electric Light Orchestra with its dynamic string arrangements and slow Lennon-esque grooves. The big standout on the album is upbeat "Good Sons" which shows off an obvious New Order influence with its driving dance rhythms and layered synths and keyboards. For the record, this track is probably the most dance-oriented piece that Starflyer has ever committed to disc.

Indeed, all of "Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice" flows seamlessly and is without a doubt another masterpiece from this amazing band. The only minor drawback is that the album only contains nine tracks and runs for 32-minutes total. The upside is that it is nine great tracks and 32-minutes of great music. Jason Martin and Frank Lenz (the current line-up) have truly outdone themselves with this album. Martin's songwriting continues to flourish and grow with each album the band releases. "Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice" is no exception.

Another Instant Starflyer Classic and Their Best Effort Yet!!!

So far, i don't think they've ever done anything better than Leave Here a Stranger. That record STILL sits in my CD player for days. Return visit after return visit. So, when i heard this, i anticipated a return to that sound since Portuguese sorta bored me. Anyhow, the most interesting thing to me is that this was mixed by Ken Andrews. Anyone know who he is? Ever heard the band Failure? No doubt the Starflyer guys knew... Aside from that, there ARE some GREAT songs on here. Good Sons is like... so different. The orchestrations and sounds are a great exploration of something new. I don't expect these guys to do another Stranger record but that layered, slow style suits them better. The vocals on this are more up front which is really cool but i find that some songs really suffer rather than bloom from the dry production. And the electro -80's pop drums just... make no sense to me. I know it was probably fun in the studio and all that but... ugh! They just kill the songs. Thats just me, anyway. I love the direction and the style here, but i think the production and some of the instruments (okay those stupid drums, thats all!)take away a star or two for me. But certainly, not a bad record. Actually, still a very good record. But bring back the producer for Stranger. And all those layered tracks. I wish Ken had produced rather than just mixed... He certainly would have tossed those awful electro drums.