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Nobody shreds like Major Stars—-they probably couldn’t if they wanted to. The Boston-based sextet packs three full-time guitarists, all of whom, it’s fair to say, play lead. While on past Major Stars records, songwriting was treated as a necessary evil, on the group’s latest, Return to Form, precision and concision prove just as important as the guitar squall. In his review in this week’s City Paper, Aaron Leitko writes:
But ever since acquiring [vocalist Sandra] Barrett as frontwoman for 2007’s Mirror/Messenger, the band has used her Ann Wilson–worthy vocals to guide it in and out of the din. In fact, Return to Form’s best moments are surprisingly succinct. On “Two Degrees” the group manages to cram the whole Major Stars formula—verse, riff, verse, Keith Moon-style drum fill, squealing feedback—into just two-and-a-half minutes.
Read the full review here.