Au/Stars Like Fleas
Le Poisson Rouge, 1.24.09

Stars Like Fleas are a challenging band to write about. There are no bands to easily reference in describing their sound. There are no gimmicks. No sing-along choruses. No stage theatrics. At Le Poisson Rouge, playing as an 8-piece, they focused on creating a unique symphony of sounds that spliced together elements of experimental jazz, rock, classical, and other unclassifiable constructs of music. They are not your average indie pop party band, but rather instead an intense musical journey that requires and desires a focused listening experience, upon which you’ll be greatly rewarded.

Following a band like Stars Like Fleas is difficult, but Au’s phenomenal set was easily my highlight of the week. Already in love with their 2008 release “Verbs” and wowed by their performance at Spiegeltent last year, there was not a bad moment in the colorful set, even though singer Luke Wyland never seemed comfortable with the sound in his monitors. Wyland’s carnival like keyboard rainbow and beautifully distinct vocals were perfectly complicated by some of the memorable percussion work I’ve ever seen live. Dana Vlatka just seems to have total awareness of the full capability and range of his kit, and displayed it in a totally unpretentious way. The highlight of the set came with the lively “Are Animals” which had a few people up on their feet and dancing at the seated performance.

Their record is loaded with tons of extra instrumentation that don’t make it to the live setting, but hopefully in the future they’ll be able to bring along a fuller band for what would make for something even more wonderful.