Albums by this artist

Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful (1999)

Red Stars Theory

Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful

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» PIERO SCARUFFI | STAFF WRITER

Red Stars Theory Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful Touch & Go, 1999 RiYL: Modest Mouse, 764-HERO

Red Stars Theory are staffed by two soldiers in Seattle's indie-rock militia: Jeremiah Green (Modest Mouse) and James Bertram (bass in 764-HERO, ex-Lync). Bertram and Anthony Palmasani are the two guitarists and songwriters, but on RST's debut, Life In Bubble Can Be Beautiful, there is precious little singing. And except for one case, vocals are delegated to guest female singers (including Lois Maffeo).

The quartet creates a weird variety of folk-inspired psychedelic dirge, very often anchored to low-key guitar jamming and sometimes enhanced by the wailing of a violin. This technique is best utilized on the instrumental tracks, such as opener "How Did This Room Get So White." Vocals are a minor factor on the minimalistic sonata "Boring Ghosts," and the effect can be transcendent. "Parts Per Million," the album's longest song, begins as a folky version of an early Pink Floyd suite and then fades into clouds of reverbs and glissandos drifting over ghostly beats.

The other tour de force, "An Alarm Goes Off," is no less rooted in trance and hypnosis, but here percussive noises run the show and the pace slows down to a funereal march. Elsewhere, impressionistic and introspective ballads such as "A Sailor's Warning" and "September" resemble a cross between Tim Buckley and Codeine. Built To Spill comes to mind also, but in a rather anemic and raw form. Listeners may also hear shades of fellow Touch And Go labelmates Dirty Three as well, but in a more psychedelic fashion. A fine debut.

PIERO SCARUFFI | Piero Scaruffi runs the exhaustive music database Scaruffi.com. A native of Italy, he has also been praised for his work on the General Theory of Relativity, formal theories of the mind, and artificial intelligence. And no, we aren't making that up.