Synthesis Weekly Reviews — Stardeath and White Dwarfs: “The Birth”

Stardeath and White Dwarfs
The Birth
Warner Bros.

The guys in Stardeath and White Dwarfs used to be the road crew for the Flaming Lips. Upon listening to their debut full-length, one ponders how much acid they ate touring with the Lips because The Birth is definitely a trip. This wonderful album shifts moods and musical styles in a way that is both seamless and slippery. When you think you’ve grasped it, there’s a change into something unexpected. The Birth opens with the grand psych rock of “The Sea Is On Fire,” mutates into the lazy acoustic balladry of “Keep Score,” transforms into the eerie title track and, without pausing, explodes into the fleet-fingered fretwork of the instrumental “Those Who Are From the Sun Return to the Sun”—and that’s just the first half of the disc!
Connell Burton McDaniel

Tags: Burton, connell, debut, Flaming Lips, fleet, full length, mcdaniel, moods, ponders, road crew, score, stardeath, sun return, warner bros