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The duo of vocalist/songwriter Jennifer Glass and guitarist/producer
Michael Simone form Starling Crush, an ambient rock
outfit with an acoustic-pop bent that bridges the dream-like atmospherics
of Radiohead with the folksy riffing of Dar Williams.
Starling Crush's latest release Tea Leaves, Murder And Dreaming
from Little Shout Records is an amalgam of Colbie Caillat's
stylized coffeehouse pop spruced with roosty rock ruminations in the
harmonica phrases and gently ambling beats. The duo's songs have a
folk-pop base clasped with prairieland-laden hooks and a soft rock
tempo reminiscent of Tina Dico. It's an easy listening album
that shares traits with the folk-pop set and some attributes that
bear a resemblance to orchestral pop and ambient rock bands.
Whatever influenced Starling Crush to make Tea Leaves, Murder
And Dreaming, their songs show shades of Americana and roots rock
alongside sleekly glazed atmospherics. The soft ruffling of resonating
guitar effects along "The One" and "Simple As The Sun"
blanket the tunes in calming aesthetics as Glass' vocals spear the
chord movements with blunt incisions reflective of The Cranberries'
Dolores O'Riordan. The breezy tempo of "Everyday' is clipped
by the simmering spurts of the harmonica, and the marching beat of
"Talking To You" is straddled by the extemporaneous musings
of the guitar riffs. The smoky ethers of "You Could Be Happy"
are cleaved by the shooting wails of the harmonica, and the dragging
stride of the acoustic guitar in "Little Shout" has a mesmerizing
feel that cradles Glass' vocals softly as she emotes, "I want
you to see me." The syncopated beats of "Invisible"
have a gypsy feel, and the entangling guitar riffs of "Disappear"
have a dreamy texture as Glass professes, "Everything looks the
same from here / Don't come any closer now / Don't come any closer
/ And now I lost my point."
Starling Crush cull magnetic atmospherics with folksy whisked acoustics
which form an ambient rock alloy that makes for a sweet coffeehouse
stylized pop with a nice kick to it. Tea Leaves, Murder And Dreaming
shows the duo in their prime as artists and musicians, and displays
the pensive side of folk inspired roots rock.
-Susan Frances
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