Stars is the latest album by San Francisco's The Morning Line the band that Salem 66 legend Stephen Smith founded at the start of the new millennium, Salem 66 for me are a holy grail band whose material has been in bad need of a good re-issue campaign for far too long. It's great to find out what any of the former members are up too. this album is a mix of new versions of The Morning Line's previously released songs and a few new things and some remixes. The Morning Line is Stephen Smith, Brian Mello, David Knupp, and Peter Craft. With guests David Shollenbarger, Scout Shannon, Marco Baroz, Sandra Mello, David Phillips, John Phillips, Laura Cavaluzzo, and Jon Cavaluzzo. All songs were recorded and mixed by Peter Craft.
The album opens with Anhedonia (Start Again) a solid riffed college rocker with some hard scrabble lyrics for someone whose been knocked down a good few times and is accepting the latest heartbreak in the best way he can. Everybody Else Does but that doesn't mean you should too, he wants to remain above the fray and keep his dignity intact to the soft jangling guitars seeing a different kind of punchline this time around.
90's Pickup appears to be about a 90's Pickup truck rather than the sort of person you could pick up in bars and clubs in the 90's, he looks at this battered motor that with a bit of luck will make it to its destination without breaking down, or veering too much in any particular direction, due to unbalanced wheels, while complaining he'll never get any good press.
Spellbound has none of Siouxie's goth witchery, instead casting spells through jangled guitars and heartfelt lyricism, like a slower Dramarama almost ballad, while asking if you're ready to move on or not. Will you accept the brass section into your heart, he hopes you will. All Mine is a parable for the selfish behaviour exhibited, how it affects everything you do, while having a gentle psychedelic edge. This is downhearted for what never was.
Stars To Me is full of memories and the pain of what went wrong, while he still stares at the marquee, knowing that to him at least you were stars, in the same way I expected Salem 66 to become huge after seeing them, at I think The Rat in Boston in 86 with 45 Grave.
Junebugs In April is shocked and surprised at being dressed for spring when the weather makes like its June, climate change has affected everything. Jet Set Stars has a laid-back melancholic feel for the place they find themselves in, with a desperate need to make a super catchy song.
The Minutes of the meetings they attend, not certain if they are inhabiting those recovery rooms or not, do they need to confess and apologise for all the wrongs committed while on one, did they waste each other's time for no good reason. Either way he's now had enough of talking to you and is moving on.
Last One Of The Losers to leave will have to take the detritus with them, clearing out and moving on from the moronic idiots this place attracts, super sparse drums and acoustic guitar accompany the sad reflections at another failed venture.
Los Angeles isn't a re-working of X's classic album, but more of a love hate letter to that city, that doesn't feel like a city, they wonder if its ever done anything good. They can't imagine spending any more time in a city as broken as Los Angeles seems to anyone coming from more functional places.
Tripwire opens like a slow burning country twister for friends lost in the crossfire, can you survive in the middle of the urban battlefield, another shoot out in a country that can't stop its addiction to settling things with bullets, rather than sane discussion, this has a slow murder ballad feel. Nostradamus is a much faster paced song, that justified the claims that they sound like Velvet Crush with a good drop of Dramarama which is a great mix for this listener.
Staten Island is seeking out the answer to a secret, why would you stay there, and how long will it be before you move on once more, he never really wants to leave your room though, if only you could be there together forever. Grand Ave. is a slow strummed song for what went down at that closed station, can you scratch that itch and move forwards even if you are still wearing last years fashions. He struggles to read your epistles in that scrawl.
Given Up they've had enough, they had to quit, anything to lighten the load and move on to different obsessions, a better way of living. The pain comes through the guitars and forlorn vocals. 1982 the year I was working in Knightsbridge, but from the sound of this Stephen was dreaming of the possibilities opening up, if he can get blood from a stone, has life gone they way he hoped it would back then. How he's filled the years with work and music leading him to step across The Morning Line once more.
Down The Aisle you go, hoping to find the forever love you've dreamt of, he's not sure you are going to find it there, remembering how you burnt up the dancefloor, what happened with the best man and those swooning slide guitars, depicting the folding chairs being cleared away again.
Back On Earth he needs to come down, from how intoxicated he feels when he's with you, slow comedown guitars and cymbals, gentle bells chime while he looks down from the cloud he's floating on, orbiting around your spectral glow.
Antennas that he needs to avoid the young kids taking over his town and behaving in all those odd millennial ways, that he doesn't relate too, Like most of us old gits who would rather still be living in the 80's or 90's, he still wants Haight st to be like it used to be, he doesn't like the new regime, well who would, just add more reverb to those guitars and live within that warm cocoon. The album closes with This Lens that has Rain Parade style guitars for questioning who you love and how do you cope, he will always view your antics through This Lens and it certainly isn't rose tinted.
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