Starsailor

Starsailor not only takes its name from a 1971 album by Tim Buckley, tragic singer-songwriter father of equally tragic emo-rock demigod Jeff Buckley, but the band spells out its name using the exact same typeface. Which might lead one to believe that this disc starts somewhere around Goodbye/Hello, then ventures into more adventurous Beefheartian territory. This British foursome, however, sticks to a more conventional framework on its 11-song debut long-player. Singer James Walsh is clearly influenced by Jeff Buckley, but the band’s attack is less precious and more direct than the one that backed the latter Buckley; the strummed guitar and elegant piano-dominated backdrop is perfect for Walsh’s theatrical vocals. And the start-soft-and-build dynamics of such tracks as “Tie Up My Hands,” “Alcoholic” and “Way to Fall” work quite well. No one’s reinventing the wheel here, but it sure does sound good.