SOW: Music Was Saved by Starsailor

February 13, 2004 | 3 Comments

The Artist: Starsailor
The Song: Music Was Saved
The Album: Silence Is Easy
Released 2003

Starsailor is one of those bands that I’ve always enjoyed but never really considered them great until I saw them live. I’m not sure how big they are in the UK or Europe, but here in the states their still relatively unknown. Or so it would seem.

I saw them a week or so ago in a very small venue that wasn’t anywhere near full. It was shockingly amazing. Not that I thought they wouldn’t be good, I had fairly high expectations, but that they were so good that it seemed like nobody really knew what they were seeing.

They were almost too good for the venue if that is possible. These guys are amazingly talented, very tight and really went all out to put on a great show. I could see them opening up for a band like Radiohead on a stadium tour, and yet here they were at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, playing to about 500 people. I feel lucky to have caught the show.

If you’re not familiar with them, they are similar to other Brit bands that get play here in the States, like Travis and Coldplay. Their sounds is pretty big, ambitious even, and somewhat melancholy, and you can tell they’ve taken quite a bit from those that have come before them.

There is a little Beatles in them, a little Oasis and a little Stone Roses. I guess they’d be considered a pop band, and I think they’re at their best with the more upbeat tracks, but they also have a depth to them that many bands of this type don’t. They’re equally good at pop and soul. Almost like Paul Weller and The Style Council in that way.

The song writing is good, not great, but that is made up for by the way James Walsh sings with an intelligence and emotion that goes way beyond his years. He has a very good, very distinctive and very strong vocal style.

His band mates are equally talented and passionate and that really comes through in many of their songs. They’re not doing anything groundbreaking, but they are putting together a distinctive sound that really supports and meshes with Walsh’s vocals.

These guys are much younger than I’d expected, so they have lots of room to grow as a band. I think they’ve been around for awhile, and it’s evident in their live show, but I really expect Starsailor to get better and better and perhaps reach the same level as some of the other great Brit pop bands.

This weeks song — “Music Was Saved” — is one of the more upbeat songs on the album. It was also great in concert. It’s not my favorite from the album, but I’m in a kind of upbeat mood, so there you go.

Enjoy. I’m off to Whistler for the weekend, catch you on the flip side.

Recommended if you like: Elbow, Travis, Stone Roses, Oasis, Coldplay, The Style Council

Filed under: Song of The Week