Review: Stella Splendens – Chromatophore

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Back in the days of yore bands like Husker Du and Mission of Burma churned out blistering odes to paranoia, confusion and chaos (lest we forget – a time when nuclear war seemed closer than ever). Ironically, 40 years later a chance of total nuclear destruction is still there (however small) and paranoia still reigns, so there’s just got to be someone willing to take on the task previously carried out by the forefathers…

Thankfully Floridians Stella Splendens are more than happy to deliver with their debut EP. Pegasus, a song that served as my introduction to the band’s work, is included there in all of its 6-minute tortured/drawn-out/psychedelic glory along with four other tracks of what could be best described as Siouxsie Sioux meets Lush meets Bardo Pond meets MBV (opener No Flag being the other personal favorite).

The main selling point of the EP is vocals of Leela Corman who switches from an angry snarl to a banshee wail (sometimes within the same song) and even in the absence of a lyric sheet you can bet she won’t a bringer of good news anytime soon. Then again, sometimes its nice to hear someone admit that they find the brave new world as confusing as you do.