THE BONELESS CHILDREN FOUNDATION Stars for Anyone
(2007; self-released)
With Stars for Anyone, The Boneless Children Foundation has created a massive album that swerves and boogies with classic rock n' roll riffs and delightfully quirky and engaging lyrics. The songs overflow with ideas, while musical passages are juxtaposed in a way that suggests the giddiness of a band like Sparks. Over the course of the record, the band's unchanged instrumentation and singular vocalist makes Stars for Anyone an entertaining but exhausting listen.
The Boneless Children Foundation rocks guitar, bass, and drums for almost forty minutes on this eleven song album, with lead guitarist/singer/songwriter David Sophia Siegel leading the way. He's a reckless lead vocalist who shouts, croons, pleads, and sings over the carefully crafted music with such emotion that you can't help but listen to what he's trying to say. On the track "Sigh," for instance, he sings of wounded disillusionment in a subdued voice while the band plays a mid-tempo shuffle with such delicate dynamics that the track could easily be a radio hit.
Siegel’s also a wild and thrilling guitar player who makes his songs chug and squeal like T.Rex or Television. But he isn't hanging his hat solely on his stellar guitar heroics. Many of these songs are crafted with pop hooks and melodic touches that satisfy like the Cars or David Bowie. The Boneless Children Foundation's combination of epic rock maneuvers and classic pop melodies reminds me of Weezer, but with rootsier rock influences that will appeal to fans of the White Stripes or Two Gallants. Stars for Anyone is self-recorded, and the album’s lo-fi tone has a rawness that contrasts nicely with the complexity of each song's arrangement.
As a full-length album, Stars for Anyone feels overstuffed. The band could probably have let the songs take more time to develop. After 6 or 7 songs, Siegel's voice wears a bit thin, yet the band hammers away somewhere between Crazy Horse and the Police. I'm left feeling that Stars for Anyone will please The Boneless Children Foundation faithful, but is probably a bit too heavy for the uninitiated.
With Stars for Anyone, The Boneless Children Foundation has created a massive album that swerves and boogies with classic rock n' roll riffs and delightfully quirky and engaging lyrics. The songs overflow with ideas, while musical passages are juxtaposed in a way that suggests the giddiness of a band like Sparks. Over the course of the record, the band's unchanged instrumentation and singular vocalist makes Stars for Anyone an entertaining but exhausting listen.
As a full-length album, Stars for Anyone feels overstuffed. The band could probably have let the songs take more time to develop. After 6 or 7 songs, Siegel's voice wears a bit thin, yet the band hammers away somewhere between Crazy Horse and the Police. I'm left feeling that Stars for Anyone will please The Boneless Children Foundation faithful, but is probably a bit too heavy for the uninitiated.