Starbenders emerged in the early 2010’s as a band capable of capturing the same energy as hard rock, pop rock, and glam from decades past in a way that didn’t feel like a mere retro revival. Each of their full lengths emphasized some different styles from within the rock spectrum, with singer Kimi Shelter’s distinctive voice giving the material even more staying power. On their fourth album The Beast Goes On the group has continued to write songs that feel like a little bit of everything 80s, but they’ve branched out a bit more to styles that jump across the alternative spectrum and pull in some 70s and even 90s. It’s filled with hooks from song to song, and while a lot of the approaches are familiar Starbenders pulls it off convincingly.
There are still plenty of 80s influenced instrumentation to the songs, as you’ll hear plenty of airier, effect laden melodies that have that pop/hard rock combination. But where Starbenders leaned into this approach on previous albums for almost the entire track list, The Beast Goes Onfeels like they’re heading into different styles from song to song. The title track kicks things off with a booming melodic chorus but then pivots over to more subdued guitar work on the chorus that has more of a gothic rock and post punk tone. “Nothing Ever Changes” then shifts to a much heavier sound where a dense bass line drives things forward, coming in somewhere between metal and punk. As you make your way through the remaining eleven songs Starbenders moves back and forth between the rougher edges and softer melodies, sometimes drifting into full-on pop rock territory while other times touching 80s AOR and hard rock. The gothic and post punk elements are expanded as well, and while the song structures do tend to stick to a very simple verse/chorus cadence it never feels like the band is repeating themselves. I personally liked the haunting “Cold Silver”, jangly melodies of “Tokyo”, and the almost Fleetwood Mac sounding “June” the most, but there are plenty of other moments where the riffs stood out. Two of the thirteen tracks are covers, with the band tackling All the Damn Vampires’ “Saturday” and Bad Religion’s “21st Century (Digital Boy)”. The latter stood out a bit more for me, mainly because “Saturday” is too close to the source material, but they do fit in with the rest of the album.
Kimi Shelter’s singing has only gotten more dynamic over the course of Starbenders’ career, and the way her voice moves from more subtle and airy melodies to much sharper, aggressive pitches perfectly complements the rest of the band. The title track has a bit more of a pop slant to it with a booming harmonized chorus, but “Nothing Ever Changes” has a much sharper edge to it that brings in quite a bit more from the punk end of the spectrum. “Chantilly Boy” feels like a cross between the two, having more of that 2000s pop punk and pop rock tone to the singing, and it’s impressive to hear just how much depth Shelter has as you make your way through the rest of The Beast Goes On. “June” in particular channels a lot of Stevie Nicks, and while the pitch may be slightly different the delivery style is what reminded me of Fleetwood Mac. “Hello Goodbye” is the only one that didn’t fully click with me, as the more rhythmic singing/spoken word juts out in a bad way, but aside from this song there’s so many verses and choruses that have stayed in my head over repeat listens.
For their fourth album Starbenders has branched out naturally, incorporating a bit more gothic rock, post punk, and everything in between. These elements aren’t completely new to their embodiment of everything rock ‘n roll, but there’s more variety and it feels like there’s less filler this time around. Whether you’re a fan of glam rock, 80s pop/hard rock, or even more modern rock ‘n roll there’s plenty here that will keep you coming back for more and this is Starbenders’ best effort to date. The Beast Goes On is available from Sumerian Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg