// pale stars | baltimore, maryland, usa //
Pale Stars Press:
Here's a sample of what critics are saying about the Pale Stars...
"Making it look easy"
"The first time I saw these guys, it was apparent they had something special. It's rare when you hear new music for the first time and the songs get stuck in your head. Pale Stars craft power-pop melodies with great hooks, and make it all look so easy....."
- Bob Waugh / Program Director, WRNR Radio Annapolis, MD, 2006
". . . [L]isteners are going to love this."
"The session starts with an addictive drumbeat. As 89.7 WTMD-FM program director Mike 'Matthews' Visilikos and air host Don Rogers watch Jeff Trueman thump the skins . . . their feet and heads nod slightly. Their listeners are going to love this. The rest of the band, Pale Stars, launches into the tune 'Everything\’s Wrong'."
- Sam Sessa / Baltimore Sun, 2006
"Pale Stars Makes Pop Madrid’s Top"
"
83 The Superficials - Superbia
84 The Pale Stars – self-titled
85 Arcade Fire - Funeral
"
- Pop Madrid
Original article: http://www.popmadrid.com/node/6248
"An Engaging Mix"
". . . this quartet plays Americana-tinged power pop with the occasional jangle of the Jayhawks and the monster hooks of Teenage Fanclub or Big Star. It’s an engaging mix, one that works well over the course of these 11 songs. "
- John Lewis / Baltimore Magazine, 2006
"Perfect soundtrack for a . . . summer drive with the top down."
". . . Brandt Huseman one of the founding members of The GreenberyWoods, has resurfaced . . . with his impressive new band Pale Stars. . . . Pale Stars eponymous debut features 11 straight-forward rocks songs without any frills, but its beauty lies in its simplicity. The quartet doesn’t need gimmicks to impress, just two guitars, a bass, a drum set, some great vocals and an outstanding collection of songs. “Turncoat” and “Weekend Lakes” are two of the most impressive tracks on the album and they are custom-made for radio play.
By keeping it simple, Pale Stars have succeeded in making one of the finest debut albums I’ve heard in quite some time and have also created the perfect soundtrack for a nice summer drive with the top down."
- Greg Yost / Music Monthly 2006
"[International review from the Netherlands ]"
"The Pale Stars is definitely not a pale picture and definitely not a snack, as this CD is well rounded melodious pop rock with hints of country rock is too good for that. For starters, Brandt Huseman has an excellent voice - reminding us of Toad The Wet Sprockets Glen Philips - writing spicy and catchy rock tunes and playing beautiful guitar. Next to the Toad The Wet Sprockets influence (understood with the good starting time) there are comparisons to be made with The Gin Blossoms and The Mother Hips. This is most noticeable in the quality songs Heavy Changes, Everything's Wrong, Mercy, Long Way Down and the other seven songs are simply well planned radio friendly rock songs with beautiful melodies and guitar work. With The Pale Stars Brandt Huseman made the long expected Greenberry Woods third record. Beautiful..."
- Wiebren Rijkeboer / AltCountry.nl, January 2006 [translated]
Original article: http://www.altcountry.nl/recensiesjan06.html
"These Pale Stars really shine!"
"This CD was recommended to me by the lovely Marlene who works at Not Lame and makes buying CD's there such a pleasant experience. This is a remarkable piece of music that just flows from your speakers and after the 40 minutes of music is over you realize it went much too quickly. This is definitely one of the best CD's I've heard in a long time. Make it a point to obtain this, especially if you were a fan of the late, great Splitsville. 5 big stars for these pale stars and i can only hope there will be more product from them. To quote Mr. Bodeen; Big-time extremely highly recommended!"
- Edward Higgins / [Not Lame customer review] January 2006
Original article: http://www.notlame.com/The_Pale_Stars/Page_1/CDPALESTARS1.html
"Voices of preternatural talent . . ."
"Pale Stars is defiantly not a group of flickering lights in the dark void of space, rather they are the voices of preternatural talent. Having recently won the Coors Light "Land Your Band" competition Pale Stars performed at the International Pop Overthrow, Millennium Music Conference, and the Dewey Beach PopFest. Of course with the genius of Brandt Huseman, who founded Greenberry Woods, as the lead singer for Pale Stars they definitely had a running head start. Nat Bradley plays guitars, equaling Huseman’s own talent on the strings. Paul Anderson plays the Bass and sings backup vocals adding level and harmony in both music and voice. Last but not least Jeff Trueman sets the tempo and demeanor with each song with drums and backup vocals. Each individual adds his own depth and character into the reverberation and helps to create the vast super nova that is Pale Stars.
Their new self titled album contains 11 songs and forty minutes of superior quality music. "Turncoat" rips with country/pop flavor and screaming guitars never failing to make the listener move. "Everything’s Wrong" is even more hard hitting with raw sound, special effect vocals and a powerful beat. Then "Over Now" slows down and emotes showing another side of Pale Star’s obvious musical talent. Each song stands out in its own unique quality and represents a facet of Pale Stars endless talent. Compared to Toad, the Wet Sprocket, Splitsville and even Greenberry Woods, Pale Stars has honestly created their own individual sound. So keep an eye out cause these Pale Stars are gleaming stronger as their talent is being realized."
- Kathleen Sharkey / Northeast In-Tune
Original article: http://www.northeastintune.com/index.php?bd=reg&sb=land&article=080620
"Q&A with Brandt Huseman"
"Veteran Baltimore scenesters will recall the Greenberry Woods, the Maryland success story which signed to Sire/Reprise Records and released two albums in the post-grunge mid-'90s. Flash forward about a decade: Greenberry bassist Brandt Huseman now plays six strings, sings and write songs with pop melodies, a rock spirit and a slightly submerged Southern twang. It's the Pale Stars, and it's good. You can check it out at Artscape Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on the University of Baltimore Stage.
Metromix: I'd like to start with how the band got started. How much time passed between the Greenberry Woods and the Pale Stars, and what did you do in between?
Brandt Huseman: Greenberry Woods -- I guess my brother [twin Matt Huseman] and I kind of put the kibosh on that around 10 years ago. In Greenberry Woods I played bass. I switched over to drums, and we started a band called Splitsville. And we did that for quite a long time. My brother was always sort of the de facto lead singer of that one, and some years ago I had picked up guitar and I decided to form a band where I was the lead singer and lead songwriter, and one thing led to another. I hooked up with Jeff [Trueman], my next door neighbor. He's the drummer, and he's fantastic, and I hooked up with some friends of friends who happened to be Nat [Bradley] and Paul [Anderson], the guitar player and the bass player. So I guess we started playing a couple of years ago.
Metromix: As for the Pale Stars' style -- that hip blend of Americana and power-pop -- other cities are more notorious for that style ...
BH: Sure, Chicago comes to mind.
Metromix: Of course, Chicago, and even Washington, D.C., seem to have real fertile ground for that sound. What's good and bad about playing in Baltimore [as a roots-rock/pop outfit]?
BH: It's an advantage because you stick out of a crowd. We've gotten a lot of positive response because we don't sound like what you would expect a band from around here to sound like. It's a disadvantage because you don't have that community to jump in on and lift each other up.
Metromix: If there's such a thing as a "Baltimore sound," what do you think that would be?
BH: I happen to know a lot of people -- well not a lot -- but the handful of people in Baltimore and Annapolis who like doing the power-pop and roots-rock kind of stuff. But I have to say, when I think of Baltimore music I kind of think of hair metal.
Metromix: Sure. There's still the ghost of Kix floating around.
BH: Oh absolutely. It's definitely a hard rockin' town.
Metromix: The Baltimore scene has always been geared toward bar music, and I know the Pale Stars play the Waterfront [in Fells Point] and similar venues. Bars are fun but they aren't the most creative environments.
BH: Not at all.
Metromix: Do you have a difficult time getting people to notice your songwriting?
BH: Clearly we would do better in sort of a club setting where we'd end up doing a 45-minute set of our best material. We've been lucky enough to do a handful of those and get on some of those radio-sponsored shows like that. You sort of have a built-in audience there coming out -- they know they're going to hear some new music. But yeah, sure it's tougher to do that in a bar situation. We've also, for some reason, ended up playing a lot of festivals. And while you're definitely at risk for people to focus [more] on whatever the festival is about -- at an oyster festival, the oysters or at a beer festival, the beer -- than the band, but those are the kind of things where you rise to the challenge. If people walk away and they're coming up to you after the show and they're buying CDs, you must be doing something right.
Metromix: Favorite songwriters?
BH: It sounds so trite but it always starts out with the Beatles for me.
Metromix: Sure.
BH: Elliott Smith isn't alive anymore but I like his stuff, and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, I like what the Flaming Lips do. I was always a big Guided By Voices fan.
Metromix: [Referring to the Wilco comparison] That's what your stuff sounds like to me. A little country, a little rock 'n' roll.
BH: Didn't Donny and Marie sing about that?
"
- Evan Haga / Baltimore Metromix
Original article: http://baltimore.metromix.com/music/balent-music-palestarsqa-s,0,970745.story?coll=balnatent-music-headlines
Pale Stars: Nat Bradley and Brandt Huseman
"[International review from the Netherlands ]"
"The Pale Stars is definitely not a pale picture and definitely not a snack, as this CD is well rounded melodious pop rock with hints of country rock is too good for that. "
- Wiebren Rijkeboer / AltCountry.nl, January 2006 [translated]
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"Pale Stars Arrive"
"Brandt Huseman (one of the founders of The GreenberyWoods and Splitsville member) has joined up with some incredibly talented musicians in Baltimore to unleash the Pale Stars on us all. And Thank The Heavens For That!
The 11 perfectly timed, sublimely rhapsodic songs evoke warm memories of The Greenberry Woods, . . . Squeeze, a moody Matthew Sweet and Gin Blossoms - with styled choruses and hooks and a bunch of songs that sound like they belong on radio through-out the Western world.
Huseman is in confident artistic voice here, interlacing long, languid memorable, classic power pop melodies, angelic harmonies and plenty of flavorful guitar licks. "
- Not Lame Recordings, 2006