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IVY AND STARS
BITTERSWEET SOMETHINGS

The NYC trio Ivy were the nominal headliners a week ago Tuesday at the Paradise, with the Montreal-by-way-of-Manhattan (or maybe Brooklyn) band Stars on board as tour mates. And that’s as it should have been. After all, Ivy have spent the better part of a decade battling it out in the trenches at major labels (Atlantic, Sony, Nettwerk) that never quite got a handle on how to market music as subtle, sophisticated, and, thanks to French singer Dominique Durand, continental-sounding as 1997’s Apartment Life, a disc with so much promise and critical acclaim that Sony re-released it after Atlantic bid the band adieu. Not that it made much difference: the ’90s just weren’t kind to little bands like Ivy and Fountains of Wayne, Ivy bassist Adam Schlesinger’s other outfit. But if the post-’90s world is cool enough to accord Fountains of Wayne a Grammy nomination, maybe it can throw a glance over at Ivy as well. After a one-off covers album on Minty Fresh (2002’s Guestroom), they’ve hooked back up with Nettwork for In the Clear, yet another dreamy pop confection full of whispered late-night bittersweet nothings, Andy Chase’s keen guitar hooks, and layers of sweeping synths that cushion Durand’s already pillowy vocals.

Meanwhile, Stars have evolved into a likeminded outfit on their new sophomore disc, Set Yourself on Fire (Arts & Crafts). Their rock pops with much of the same romantic yearning, neo-new wave texture, and attention to little melodic details. But along with the alluring Amy Milan, Stars have a second vocalist, Torquil Campbell, and an alliance with the members of Broken Social Scene. Campbell brings Milan’s dream pop down to earth with lines like "Outside it was pouring and we were drunk as shit" ("The First Five Times"), and when at the Paradise she grabbed her guitar to put a little strumming muscle behind the band’s precious, precocious pop, Campbell picked up his trumpet and added another punch of melody to the already tuneful mix. The blissful climax found girl/boy vocals giving way to crashing cymbals, throbbing bass, anthemic guitar chords, and a simple, bold trumpet line.

It seemed a foregone conclusion that Stars would outshine Ivy. By the time Ivy hit the stage, the capacity crowd was already thinning. And for all of Schlesinger’s efforts to connect with the folks up front with little stories about the songs, there was no way Ivy’s pleasant ambiance was going to match Stars’ vivid intensity. "4 a.m." summed it up: Ivy are a soothing late-night/early-morning treat to be enjoyed with your nightcap, not a band to strike sparks in a rock club before midnight.

BY MATT ASHARE

Issue Date: May 13 - 19, 2005
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