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Like any artist, the Oklahoma City based band Thirteen Stars has been through their share of styles, sounds and phases only to emerge more mature and tighter than before. This is none more evident than on their newest release, These Places which proves with Thirteen Stars, growing up is a very good thing.
Produced, in part, by Trent Bell (The Flaming Lips, Starlight Mints) and mastered by George Geurin (The Polyphonic Spree, Flickerstick) These Places continues on the path of evolution for the band. The record flirts with darker melodies and added instrumentation, but still shows the bands ability to produce well crafted pop songs. “This record has much more going on: keyboards, acoustic guitars, and more. We wanted to do things we weren’t able to do in the past,” says Scott.
The intense rocker “Failing Upwards” leads off the EP in a straight rock ‘n’ roll minimalist fashion. The catchy hooks in “Afterglow” and “The Story” follow as the band delves into a recurring theme found through out their albums; the tangles of love and relationships. The slow, dreamy “Secrets We Keep” finds a similar narrative (“Does tomorrow have to follow today / When we both know what it all holds now”) as the band experiments with new sounds on the track. The record ends with the dark and jangly “These Places,” an ode to small town beginnings.
When it came time to name the new EP, These Places proved to be an easy title for the new disc. After 350 plus shows in nine states the band has more than seen their share of interesting places, seedy hotels, shady people and everything in between. But this philosophy of regional touring has helped them gain many loyal fans in the southwest region and has allowed the band to play alongside many nationally known artists such as Maroon 5, Dishwalla, Fastball, The All-American Rejects and Blue October.
Of course the shows weren’t always of that caliber back in 1999 when the core of Thirteen Stars, singer Scott Starns and bassist Annatomik, met through an ad in a local newspaper. They quickly released their debut album “The Nova Project” in 2000. From there a few lineup changes ensued; guitarist Jason Deal was added in 2001 and drummer Mike Mosteller replaced the band’s previous drummer in 2003 bringing the band to its current state.
The months ahead look promising for Thirteen Stars, with more regional touring to support These Places and more songwriting to supplement the ever changing set list. “We are always writing new songs. It can only go further and it can only get better. I hope everyone’s ready because we are,” says Jason. It seems with a little help, Thirteen Stars may be getting out of “these places that we’ve known” sooner than they think.
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