Disco de The Stills: “Logic Will Break Your Heart [Bonus Track]”

The Stills are a great band with a sound that is similar to other NYC garage rock bands, but they still have their own sound. A little bit of New Wave, 80's and Rock BEAUTIFULLY meshed into this album. Rarely do i find a CD with more than 5 songs that i like. This album doesn't need any skipping, throw it on random and ENJOY! The best songs in my opinion, with the best songs first, are "Allison Krauss" (*****), and then "Still In Love", but very close to that is "Of Montreal", "Gender Bombs", "Lola Stars and Stripes", "Yesterday not Tomorrow" oh hell, the whole CD is good. In comparison to Interpol...the Stills vocals are better, and their backing music is on par with Interpol as well. I've caught them at a concert too, and boy, they are an act. If i had a straight jacket on in the concert, no doubt i would've busted through it, headbanging after the first song. Simply put, they are A GREAT BAND, and this great band is better than 90% of the bands that have a video on rotation on music channels.

This album is full of amazing songs. Highlights: "Gender Bombs", "Lola Stars & Stripes", "Let's Roll", "Still in Love Song" and specially "Of Montreal". The lyrics are great, as well as the voice and guitar. But what really would blow your mind away is the rythm section. These guys treat every instrument as it deserves, bringing the bass and drums to the front more as leading instruments than supporting ones.

Yes, they do wear their influences on their sleeve (The Cure, The Smiths, Echo, Radiohead) and they do sound a little bit as Interpol (for me even better). But although their sound isn't groundbreaking or new, (let's face it - how many bands produce really new sounds each year?) The Stills have produced one of the most rewarding records of the 00's. If in a couple of years I keep enjoying "Logic Will Break Your Heart" as much as I do right now, it'll definitely enter my top 5 list of the best records ever!

Montreal's newest export, The Stills, proves with their debut album that you don't need to be noisy or extravagant in order to do the job. Their sound brings to mind influences from eighties bands such as Smiths/Morrisey, The Cure and New Order, with accents that could sound as borrowed from a Radiohead, a Travis, a Coldplay or a Doves album. Then they tone themselves down a bit, with a bare bones approach that makes the experience of listening to "Logic Will Break Your Heart" one that you wish to repeat over and over.

Since I first heard it, I haven't stopped playing the album and I am sure happy that there's works like theirs out there, keeping the good music of all ages alive and kicking. With a very crisp dual-guitar approach, with a classic rhythmic backbone consisting of bass and drums (and the timely spicing up with keys by drummer Dave Hamelin), their prog-post-punk sound supports the voice of Tim Fletcher, one who I wouldn't be surprised to see stand out like Coldplay's Chris Martin in a matter of a couple of years.

With The Stills, make no mistake: you are in the presence (if they don't throw their act down a toilet) of a band that will be huge. In fact, they already ARE huge with such a brilliant debut!

The Stills set the bar high for themselves with their first full-length album, Logic Will Break Your Heart. Every song on it is amazing, and continues to be one of my favourite albums.

The Stills write very creative, smart rock songs that sound good no matter when you're listening. Most of the songs have a retro-rock feel, and the guitars play an extremely prevalent part in the album. Definite favourite tracks are "Lola Stars and Stripes," "Allison Krausse," "Of Montreal," and "Yesterday Never Tomorrows."

I recommend this album to everyone, but particularly those who are fans of The Walkmen, The Shins, and Interpol.

I think the Stills are onto something here. A Canadian band mixing 80's new wave and punk ethos with a couple shots of Interpol, the Strokes and Longwave thrown in for good measure. Sure sounds good on paper. And, for the most part, it sounds good on the disc too. But I think this band has better material in them than this.

By way of example, no one song truly stands out to me on this disc. There are several songs that sound close to being great--"Still in love song", "Gender Bombs", "Changes are no good", "Of Montreal", etc. But they all seem to lack that certain chemistry that would push them over the top.

Which is not to say that the album isn't an enjoyable listen. I can listen to the album pretty much straight-through, and it is enough to keep my attention. The songs are well-written, the playing is competent, and the production is, as I mentioned above, a nice mix of styles that pushes all the right buttons for success today.

This being their debut album, they're accorded some leeway to throw in a few filler tracks, which they oblige. Some songs sound a bit too formulaic, as if they started with a good idea, then decided not to pursue the song any further. I'm thinking specifically of a couple of tracks towards the end of the album--'Allison krausse" and "Fevered". Overall, a number of the songs seem to have an air of unfinished business about them. Which is a large part of the reason I gave the album 3 rather than 4 stars.

Given a little more time and a chance to polish their sound, the Stills could become an outstanding band. I do believe they have an epic album or two in them, and I will be anxiously following their career to see what they can produce. But they are not a 5 star band yet. Let's see if they can get there.