Customer Reviews

This World Just Won't Leave You Alone

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The second LP from this Athens, GA based band continues the stellar country-rock balladry of their 1999 debut. Lead vocalist and songwriter Dave Marr either has a lot of ghosts to exorcise, or a vivid imagination; possibly a bit of each. His songs string together a nearly unrelenting trail of rainy days, punctuated by only the most occasional, (and fleeting) burst of overcast.

From the opening refrain, "White Lies, blue tears, red eyes, black fears," Marr stares down his sorrows with a disarming directness. He's not the first to find poetry in misery, but the empowerment emanating from his contemplations is surprising and promising. He's not so much sad or scared, or even resigned, as he is dutiful. Faced with lost loves and busted relationships, he mulls them over until he find some shred of hope to hang on to, often little more than the very process of calling out the demons.

The band's laconic tempos are the perfect base for Marr's melancholy. The downbeat balladry brings to mind tunes from bands like Luna, The Velvet Underground, and Green on Red (especially their "Gravity Talks" LP), but with a twang. Johnny Neff's pedal steel and Phillip McArdle's guitar provide especially eloquent embroidery throughout.

"Cocaine Parties" has the sort of dragged-out tempo reminiscent of Gram Parsons. "When I'm All the Way Down" is even further down-tempo, dragging along on an end-of-the-line rhythm that suggests several too many drinks and a long cigarette ash about to sleepily fall to the floor. The album's one upbeat lyric, "Daydreamer," finds Marr rolling down the road towards happiness, yet not quite there.

Whether you're commiserating with a fellow downtrodden soul, or simply feeling better in comparison, the lyrical bleakness, and the matching tempo and timbre of the accompaniment, is surprisingly un-depressing. This is a fine album, whose charms grow with each repeated play.

4-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings.

Subtle vocals,tight timely instrumentation,and lyrics sometimes stark and unsparing as that moment when the lights go on at closing time(try Cocaine Parties or When I'm All the Way Down).These songs of experience are not for the belly button,songs-R-us set,but if you've been around the block a few times,you just might like them.A beautiful honest disc.

The day the Star Room Boys called it quits was the worst day for music in the last few years. Bless these boys.

This isn't as great as their debut, though. While "Cocaine Parties" and a few other tracks are as heart-breaking as country can get, it doesn't have the relentless excellence as "Lonely Men and Women."

I remember attending the release show for this ... what a great live act the SRBs were. If you like good, old-timey, heartfelt country, get this ... but not before you own their brilliant debut.

Dave Marr has to be the best country singer since Merle Haggard. This album's every bit as good as their last one, and "Cocaine Parties" is the best song I've heard in a long time.

It's too bad this band only has two albums. This one is their best. It is one of my favorites and I have HUNDREDS of CD's. It's easily in my top 10. Just some of the best music ever from start to finish.

I lived in Athens, GA, during the Boys' heyday and saw many, many of their concerts. I was too cool for country until I met them but they made me believers. They were awesome live, tons of fun, and drew fans from all political and musical persuasions, including me, a die-hard Indie fan. While Dave Marr is an amazing vocalist, there is simply no better pedal steel guitar player alive than Johnny Neff, and the way Johnny and Philip (guitarist) played off each other made the whole show f'en transcendent...So many fond memories of the Boys...I also partied many many times with those Wild Ones. (Hey, Boys: Remember New Year's Eve, 1999, at the 40 Watt, you guys playing along with Jucifer?) While this CD isn't as cohesive as their first, it DOES contain their best song: "If I Can Ever Get It Back Again." Too bad the Boys had to break up, but blame it on the fact that two of them got married about the same time and apparently their respective wives demanded they leave the group, since the waves of girls coming on to the Boys just proved too overwhelming for wives to deal with. The big shame in all this is if Johnny Neff quits or even tones down his pedal steel. He really has the talent to go national in some way. Plus, he's hot hot hot. :-)

I don't know how many of you that are reading this own The Star Room Boys' first album....but if you don't.....BUY IT! Then, buy this one too. Dave Marr is probably one of, if not THE best songwriters in country music today. I don't really listen to what passes for country radio, and I was lucky (blessed even?) to find out about The Star Room Boys back in the glory days of Napster. I ended up downloading every song off of "Why Do Lonely Men and Women...", and subsequently BOUGHT the cd....hey, what do you know? ... Anyhoo, I HIGHLY recommend both Star Room Boys cds. You will NOT be disappointed.

Why can't we hear music like this on the radio. These boys are the real deal. The songwriting is outstanding. The vocals and instruments - terrific. What a band!!!!

Why can't we hear music like this on the radio. These boys are the real deal. The songwriting is outstanding. The vocals and instruments - terrific. What a band!!!!

An excellent follow-up to their first disc, only this time Marr sings as though he's not feeling the heartache of the first album. A couple of more uptempo songs (see "Daydreamer" - complete w/ sing-along vocal harmony) distinguish this album from "Why Do Loneley Men & Women..." and make it a little more boot-shufflin' and less and less "crying in your PBR." Still, they're the same old Star Room Boys and half the songs on there will have you hangin your head and remembering love lost at night's end. I personally think their rookie effort was more powerful and would reccommend this disc as a supplement to it rather than it being the only purchase of a first-time SRB listener. These guys are great to see live, unfortunateley they've recently disbanded. Cheers to Dave, John and the rest of the fellas. I've enjoyed the music the past few years and will cherish these 2 albums for years to come.