Lab
Partners - Review for Daystar:
If Dayton, Ohio's Lab Partners
prove anything with their first long-player, Daystar, it's that injecting
some power-pop sensibilities into space-rock produces some very fine
results. Despite their stratospheric inclinations, they are at their
core great pop writers who share a surprising amount in common with
Fountains of Wayne, pulling one lush nugget after another from what
seems like an inexhaustible supply. Cross this with Coldplay's grounded
sonic experimentalism and Brian Eno's ambience and you have a pretty
fair idea of what Lab Partners sound like. Over the course of Daystar,
they fall just short of being truly distinctive, and it would be nice
if their harmonic and rhythmic capacities came closer to their gift
for finely-sculpted melodies, but other bands have succeeded wildly
with much less than is on display here. Besides, it's hard to complain
too much with such a fine collection of ingratiating songs. Not everyone
who buys Daystar will rush out and form a band, certainly, but only
the most fossilized snob could resist extending their thumb skyward
when it starts radiating from their speakers.
— Brian James