It’s come time to classify Gringo Star with all the other party-garage bands. There was a time when the Atlanta four-piece stood out, for their instrument-switching ways (including drums), and a style that felt more like an honest throwback to the fifties & seventies, rather than homage. But their sound is still better live than on record, like so much of party-garage, and it just feels less original than it used to on sophomore record, Count Yer Lucky Stars.
Not that Count is a bad album; Gringo Star have got a great sixties sway-rock formula – that unfortunately is used a little too much on Stars, from opener/single "Shadow" on. Much of the record struggles to differentiate itself, one piece from another – another hallmark of party-garage. There is the Mexicali tragedy of "Esmeralda", and the slower sway to closer "Mexican Coma", but those are the only trips south of the border – penultimate "Make You Mine" has a riff that sounds a whole lot like that of the title track/opener (QRO video) of debut All Y’All (QRO review).
Thankfully, the hep-stepping saloon of Count Yer Lucky Stars‘ title track & the country gallop-trot to "Light In the Sky" both have some great energy, making them clear standouts on a record that somewhat struggles to stand out.
MP3 Stream: "Light In the Sky"
