Stellastarr*

Highline Ballroom; July 16.

Photograph: Phil Knott

You know, back in 2003, it wouldn’t have been so much to expect NYC combo Stellastarr* to produce a decent album, say, six years later. Walk into a noisy bar back then and the band’s hits (remember the thrillingly yelpy “Jenny”? Or tropical disco shouter “My Coco”?) would amply fill time between Strokes records. And six years is a fair old while, in terms of artistic progression: Radiohead went from Hail to the Thief to In Rainbows in less time, and even NYC “scenester” bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio developed their early styles into something truly enduring in those six years.

You can see where this is going, can’t you? Suffice to say, on the basis of the new third album from Stellastarr*, Civilized, the four-piece has not moved on from its self-titled debut; the only difference is that the energy has fizzled out. The arrangements on these new songs remain the same: angular guitars, giddy-up drums, Pixies-style basslines and boy-girl vocals; but without any drive, the music falls flat. Similarly, singer Shawn Christensen was never much of a lyricist, but these here are truly threadbare—meaning that Christensen’s weird pseudo-British accent (“hit me in the street loights tonoight,” he sings) just sounds ridiculous. If you’ve ever tried to dance when you’re not in the mood, you’ll know exactly the feeling Civilized invokes. One hopes, however, that the band’s live show on home turf will inspire something a mite more unruly.—Sophie Harris

Civilized is out now.

Buy Civilized on Amazon.com | Buy it on BN.com

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