Amorphous and calculated at the same time, the music of Stars Like Fleas creates wraith-like music that has no issues burying itself in the listener’s consciousness. Based out of Brooklyn, of course, the band is the invention of Shannon Fields and Montgomery Knott. With components of avant-garde jazz, noise rock, indie rock, and electronica, pegging down Stars Like Fleas is a fruitless proposition.
Pegging down the band’s members can be an equally fruitless proposition, as Knott and Fields recruit hosts of musicians to provide the sonic tapestry for their performances and records. It stands to reason, then, that their latest album features a cast of exciting characters and talented musicians.
The Ken Burns Effect, released in 2007 in Europe and in North America in 2008 on Hometapes out of Oregon, features a collective of musicians and former members of bands like Beirut, TV On The Radio, Mercury Rev, and Tall Firs, among others.
Instruments are picked up and put down where needed, as though the organization of the music is secondary to how it feels overall. Plunkings of piano intersperse with Fields’ “assorted pretensions,” while Ryan Sawyer’s percussion delicately touches the tracks.
Take, for instance, the labyrinthine magnificence of “Falstaff.” The track wanders continuously without much purpose, but its warmth and frailty is undeniable and it almost works as a very deliberate pop song balanced by orchestral majesty. The rain of sound from the instruments belies a broader purpose, yet Knotts handles the vocals like a mystified raconteur. There is no verse-chorus-verse make-up here to speak of.
“Karma’s Hoax” elegantly unfolds as introduced by Knotts and light flashes of Ryan Smith’s piano. There is a natural order to the tune and it feels frosty and, at times, shocking. Distortion and noise break through the white, if only for a second, and the song’s deconstruction is as mesmerizing as its creation.
The immediate “Berbers in Tennis Shoes” almost resembles a straightforward folk hymn with its energy and sizzle, while the sadness of “I Was Only Dancing” is as heart-rending and attractive a song as I’ve heard in a long time.
The incredible final track, a 13-minute rumination called “Some Nettles,” is astoundingly poignant and stirring despite its uncomplicated underpinning.
Audacious as much of the music is, The Ken Burns Effect is actually relatively simple. Stars Like Fleas allow the instruments time to breathe, to inhale; and this grants the listener moments for introspection and thought. The drive is internal, more than anything, and the quiet majesty of this record makes it one of the most gorgeous of 2008 (or 2007).
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