Burnside Album Details

The Starfolk makes melody-rich chamber pop music that rocks in front man Brian Tighe's quintessentially ethereal way. Tighe fronted indie-pop darlings The Hang Ups in the 90’s, and co-fronts bittersweet girl-boy poppers The Owls. In The Starfolk, Tighe is on guitar and lead vocals; joined by wife/collaborator Allison LaBonne (The Owls) on bass, Jacqueline Ultan on cello, and Stephen Ittner (The Hang Ups) on drums. Everyone sings. The sound of The Starfolk self-titled is palpably heavier than Tighe's back catalog. But the dirty guitar riffs and insistent rhythms are interspersed with angelic moments where Tighe unveils some of his most McCartney-esque melody writing; steeped in lush, eerie harmonies and elegant, economical arrangements. LaBonne contributes three songs that add dimension to the record; her urgent pulses and chilling vocals offering an exciting shift in perspective. "The present iteration of Tighe's Anglophilia lands The Starfolk somewhere near the land of The Left Banke in the time of The Three O'Clock, and that's the kind of music that gets me all fired up with religious fervour." --The Big Takeover