SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CRUSHED STARS – DISPLACED SLEEPERS

Crushed Stars
Displaced Sleepers
Simulacra Records

Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Crushed Stars have really delivered with their fourth and latest album Displaced Sleepers. Led by writer/guitarist/producer/front man Todd Gutreau, the band has long been known as “dream pop” darlings, but with Displaced Sleepers, they raise the bar a couple of notches. It includes some of the best melodic pop tracks packed into one album in years. Hypnotic tracks like “Permafrost,” “Celia in her Constellation”, and “Slow Parades” are close to perfect, and reflect Gutreau’s growing sense of isolation, as both an artist and a spectator in the digital age where art is consistently diminished.

Displaced Sleepers features ethereal vocals and a steady stream of infectious melodies and hooks played out amid shimmering guitars and warm clinky keyboards. Listening to the album, I found that it can actually turn into a mesmerizing experience. Along with contributions from bandmates Jeff Ryan (drums) and Jay Allen (piano), Gutreau and Crushed Stars are clearly on an upward trajectory with their latest release.

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