Starlight Mints

Drowaton

[3/5] There are at least three separate albums contained within Drowaton, and it’s a testament to Starlight Mints’ kitchen-sink approach that each listen yields varied results. On the surface, mild-mannered guitars and drums suggest simple, pretty song skeletons. But there’s a skewed sensibility weaving through the eclectic instrumentation of the Oklahoma band’s ghostly dream scenes. Pianos, bells, violins, whistling solos and fuzzy squelches of psychedelic knob-twiddling orchestrate a chamber-pop that alternates between Charlie Brown dance-party funk and spooky organ grinding–sometimes, within the same song. Allan Vest’s vocals bind the songs together with the poetic ramblings of an insane carnival barker, though the disc’s highlight, “The Killer,” changes the pace with a barebones acoustic lament and a fragile lyric whispered over a funeral riff. Like the best parts of Drowaton, it’s a ray of sunshine inside a cold and lonely place.
(BARSUKL) Luke O’Neil