stellastarr* - Somewhere Across Forever (20 20 Recordings)

With a tour of the UK recently completed, the lowercase NYC trio stellastarr* make their debut in the form of this 3-track EP, to the accompaniment of more buzz than could be found in your average beehive.

The EP shows that these indie-pop new hopes may well be worthy of the hype, particularly on the evidence of the title track Somewhere Across Forever. This number has a strong pop melody and a bouncing rhythm, but still provides the hard-hitting guitar and some Robert Smith-type vocals courtesy of Shawn Christensen. Also of note are some fabulous three-part voices in the chorus, with effective secondary vocals from bassist Amanda Tannen.

Although the other two tracks don't quite reach the heights of Somewhere Across Forever (though No Weather is elevated by its energy and build-up), this release is a worthy debut for stellastarr* and promises good things from their soon-to-be-released LP.