Lab Partners - Review for Daystar:

Columbus Alive

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Music like what the Lab Partners make isn’t supposed to come from Dayton, a city whose musical history is littered with lo-fi indie rock bands. Then again, with stories of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base being a secret UFO repository, maybe this is the music—rich with swirling guitars, effect-laden vocals and waves of sonic echo—that should be emanating from Dayton. “I’m sure we’ve been influenced by the stories of aliens,” Lab Partners lead singer and guitarist Mike Smith says. “We all have had our X-Files nights. We all love making drugged-out spiritual sounds.”
The satiated and atmospheric sounds of the Lab Partners’ latest release, full-length debut Daystar (Big Beef), has been described as “stratopop” and owes a debt to space rock bands like Spiritualized, Ride, BRMC and the Verve. “I’d have to say that first and foremost our sound has been influenced by those bands and is an attempt to create our own sound in the process,” Smith admits via e-mail.
Smith also has a very interesting theory involving aliens and religion that he will be happy to explain to you following his band’s performance.
Out-of-towners Candy Afterlife (from Cincinnati), the Ultimate Lovers (Detroit) and Paik (Detroit) round out the bill.
—Chip Midnight
December 19, 2002