Stars and The Sea

Well, this being my first time hearing the band, I was not sure what to think and I had never heard of them – they are called Stars and The Sea. It's a live recording at The Windup Space. A live recording is a much different experience than a studio recording. Lots of things can happen and in this case it is awesome things; a huge nod to 80's post-punk with the sounds of The Cure, The Clash, Social Distortion and Cheap Trick with some Pixies influence and a bit of Interpol thrown in for a dark kind of sound. Some very on-point vocals and catchy riffs and sing-able lyrics – the music just makes you want to dance. The lyrics are about having fun relationships and overall, you can relate. You can hear their influences in their music and it's very well put together. The guitars and the drums, bass and singing all blend together nicely. They definitely have the makings of an up-and-coming band. Having just gotten into the local scene, I am impressed by the amount of talent that is out there, and Stars and The Sea do not sound like your typical local band; they have the ability to go far. An 80's/90's post-punk and alternative kind of band, Stars and The Sea will make you feel like you've gone back in time – not many local bands try to emulate that style anymore. Among my favorite tracks on the CD are "Turn You On (Say You're Mine)", "Spiral to the Bottom of the Sea", "XXXcited" and "Beautiful Odd Girl". So do yourself a favor: if the sound of 80's and 90's post-punk alternative is something you miss, then by all means pick up "Live At The Windup Space" or go check them out at a local show. Support local music; the only way bands exist is with the support of the fans and the love for the music. Without that they have nothing. - Shockwave Magazine

...melancholy as they are romantic, as sweet and saccharine as they are bitter and black. - Ilker Yücel - ReGen Magazine

Following the uber fantastic set by The Ting Tings I decided to venture over to a much smaller room to catch local favorites Stars and the Sea.

Shane & the boys were already a few songs into their set and I was impressed to walk into the club and see girls up front dancing and singing to the bands original tunes!

The bands bassist Brian I. was a bit intoxicated on this night & it was quite funny to literally see him forgetting how to play songs, causing major flubs and at one point Shane had to stop a song, go over to him and show him where the notes were because he was just too f**ked up to play!



Perhaps Shane’s funniest comment to Brian was, “Don’t move around, just stand still so you can try to play!” and Shane said that because any time Brian started to move he would forget to play! Regardless of the bass being played or not Shane & drummer John L. held down the fort quite well.

What actually crossed my mind was, I had just seen a 2 person band via The Ting Tings and what were the odds I’d stumble into another show & see essentially a 2 person band again simply because the bass player was too messed up to really play.

Stars and the Sea’s drummer reminds me of Charlie Sheen in the face and I was soooo hoping at some point he’d stand up and yell “Winning!”....sadly it never happened!

By the end of the set the band was essentially drums & guitar and sad irony would step in when Shane broke a guitar string towards the end of the set. The last song of the night was a Jeff Buckley cover & Shane quipped that the song would be a little out of tune BUT to be quite honest with you that song was impressively punk rock because it wasn’t perfect, it was loose and the vibe when they did that song was careless & crazy which IS what rock n roll is all about. This was actually a train wreck show on many levels YET I loved every moment of it because it sounded good, it was rough, it was raw and it was real....pure Baltimore Rock N Roll at it’s best! - Bob Suehs - Rock N Roll Experience

Stars and The Sea blend indie rock with elements of aggressive rock to create a swirl of music that mixes Urge Overkill, Elvis Costello & Sonic Youth with Jeff Buckley while still maintaining an original vibe & sound that's all their own!

Shane is the bands singer/guitarist & his presence is dark & brooding but his image is shattered when you see him perform because onstage he's equal parts singer songerwriter & indie rockstar...his guitar tone this night was clean, crisp & sharp which is rare for the Sidebar and the rhythm section was solid, in time & overall the band just sounded sweet from start to finish!



Stars and The Sea is a 3 piece band & the interesting thing to note about the band is they have the minimal amount of members required to rock, they carry just enough gear onstage to sound good & their music follows the same etiquette in that they don't over-do anything....they keep it tasteful, short & to the point; each song delivers just enough to keep you wanting more...there's no overkill, no redundancy & it all seems to just "fit" when you see the band live! - Bob Suehs - Rock N Roll Experience

Local three-piece Stars and the Sea is shadowy without getting lost in mope-dom. Vocalist Shane Gardner has the kind of baritone that would be just as at home in a tragicountry band that listens to lots of Cash as it would in a group of Morrissey-influenced melancholy addicts. With the chugging indie churn of his bandmates on songs like “Beautiful Odd Girl” or “Bar Tripper,” you can hear a bit of the sardonic indie-darlings the National at play, but then a song like “Come to Me” shows more traditional post-punk influences still working their way out. - City Paper Baltimore