Album Review: Civilized by stellastarr*

Midway through track nine of Stellastarr*’s third album, you realise this decade’s debt to the 1980s has overlooked one vital link in the bloodline from mid-1980s camp Smithsian indie to late ‘80s baggy and shoe-gaze: that of the mid-decade, NME-instigated C86 movement, a genre Primal Scream briefly flirted with, but which ultimately yielded few, if any, big acts. But what’s the big deal about Stellastarr* reviving an oft-overlooked, primarily English movement? A band who, even six years ago at the height of their popularity, would barely have registered on anyone’s radar? Well, while the bulk of Civilized hangs on the coat-tails of the Strokes’ garage rock/new wave movement—with added effervescence—like it’s 2003, this one track hints at a step forward for the band. You see, since their debut—in 2003—Stellastarr* have barely moved on.

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