Review: The Parlotones - Stardust Galaxies



Stardust Galaxies is the fourth studio album by the South African rock band The Parlotones. It was released towards the end of 2009 to much acclaim and anticipation by the general public.

The first track on the album- Push Me To The Floor received immediate airplay on 5FM and most local radio stations. Yet another big break for the band came, with a collaboration between KFC and the band, in advertising and the launch of The Parlotones Snack Box, and all its related motif advertising on the meal boxes, using the track "Life's Design" from the album.

Since the release of their last album in October 2007 The Parlotones have sold over 200,000 albums and 70,000 tickets in South Africa. The Parlotones has been very well received in the USA with an independent release managing to crack the CMJ top 200 chart in the USA. ‘Overexposed’ won awards locally and in the USA including 2 awards in The International Song Contest (ISC) which boasts heavyweight judges such as Robert Smith, Tom Waits and Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20)¹

My overall impression of the album was that these guys just don't stop growing and getting better and better at their music. Although, dismissed by many musicians as being a "poor songwriter" by what I would term, jealous has-been guitarists that sit on forums all day and whinge about their guitars, I have to concede that there is basically no end to the talent and experience of the front man, Kahn Morbee. I thoroughly enjoyed the album, most songs are excellent on this album and I truly believe there is something for everyone. The third track "Should we fight back" has an infectious bass drum rhythm, something which I believe is totally unique to this band, and I noticed, rose to prominence from their previous album, entitled "A world next door to yours"

The album is offset with some darker, melodic songs such as "Its only science" which is my personal favourite, as musically and lyrically it is one of the most well put-together songs I have heard in a long time. An ode to their hometown, Roodepoort, Johannesburg, the track entitled "Brighter side of hell" puts it very succinctly how most of us feel about living in Gauteng, in particular the West Rand.

The remainder of the album, is fairly upbeat, with an excellent track about dancing "We call this dancing" which I thought was a really apt description about the act of dance, and it in itself is a perfect song to dance to. I attended their live concert at The Barnyard @ Broadacres and the audience went apeshit by this song, and rightly so.

The title track, which is the last track of the album is a wonderful duet featuring Zolani Mahola, the lead singler of Freshly Ground. It is one of the love ballads of the album, dark, and depressive.

Overall, this album stands out on its own as some of the finest music that The Parlotones have yet released. I cannot do it justice with a mere review and what has started out for me as a simple review, has turned out as what I have written here. I would advise everyone to listen to it instead.

This album is one of my favourites from 2009 and I rate it 8/10

Label: Sovereign Entertainment
Track Listing:

1.    "Push Me to the Floor"      4:12
2.    "The Stars Fall Down"      4:21
3.    "Should We Fight Back"      3:14
4.    "We Call this Dancing"      4:01
5.    "Fly to the Moon"      4:00
6.    "Life Design"      3:27
7.    "Remember When..."      3:53
8.    "Welcome to the Weekend"      3:30
9.    "Brighter Side of Hell"      3:15
10.    "It's Only Science"      3:42
11.    "Fireworks and Waterfalls"      3:46
12.    "Stardust Galaxies (featuring Zolani Mahola)"      3:49

References:
1 - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parlotones

That's right, they have their other wine called "Giant Mistake". I am not a big follower of wines and I felt that the wine deal was of lesser importance that's why I omitted it from the review. They did promote the wine at the concert, but the big drawcard was the sale of merchandise.