Wooden Stars

People Are Different (Sonic Unyon)

By Emily Becker
Published: May 23rd, 2007 | 8:31pm

Wooden Stars are best known as the band joining Julie Doiron on her first post-Eric’s Trip outing back in 2000. The sound Wooden Stars create on People Are Different, the band’s first release since Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars, is speedy, guitar-driven math rock. The record is reminiscent of Faraquet, whose The View From This Tower also came out in 2000, and it leaves People Are Different sounding dated and stale.

But maybe Wooden Stars is just doing what they do. The band released four records in the mid-to late-‘90s, prior to working with Doiron, and then disbanded until 2004, when they reunited to play a few live shows. This collaboration eventually led to People Are Different. Members of the band continued to play music during the Wooden Stars’ hiatus, with some success even — guitarist Mike Feuerstack has played with Islands and the Bell Orchestre (Richard Reed Parry and Sarah Neufeld from Arcade Fire’s other gig). But when Wooden Stars got shelved, their sound ceased to evolve, and it shows.

People Are Different is not an unpleasant listen, but there is no one track that instantly grabs listeners by their collective throats and demands to be heard. All eight tracks are remarkably similar; even after several listens it is still hard to separate where “Microphones” ends and “Gold Dust” begins. One moment stands out for its oddity, however. About three quarters of the way through “Boating Accident,” after a minute of extended guitar noodling, the guitar appears to play the lyrical melody to “Renegade” by Styx: “Oh Mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law.” Some of the songs, particularly “Clouds,” make me yearn for the Wooden Stars to seek out another collaborator. The song begins, “Are you sad? / Breaking up is very hard and sad / What is in your heart?” Apparently writing lyrics can also be very hard. Perhaps People Are Different gave some hard-working musicians and their fans another dose of music they once loved. Judge that however you like, but just don’t expect the record to unearth a newly minted sound.