The Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart

The Stills follow up their striking debut EP with Logic Will Break Your Heart, an album that wears it’s influences on it’s sleeve as boldly as a row of band pins, yet somehow is much more than another rehashing of 80s sonics. Sure, each track is still laden with watery reverb, propulsive bass, and longing, whispery vocals that – in the wrong hands – could have sounded like wholesale Smiths thievery. But these Montreal-by-way-of-Brooklyn kids have been able to make Logic sound less like a tribute album and more like a modernization of classic sounds. From opener “Lola Stars and Stripes” (featuring the tellingly clever line, “we all need to feel secure/we’re so middle class”), to the ringing “Love and Death,” to the EP standout “Still In Love Song,” one can hear the sound of a band right as they develop - sure, there’s more than a few growing pains, but there’s just as many moments of joyous conception as well, and you can’t really fault a new band for wanting to ape their heroes at least a little bit. While there’s no undeniably catchy singles anywhere in sight, it’s quite possible that The Stills’ debut will appeal to a wider audience than the small collection of Reagan-era indie rock devotees that eagerly lap up material from ANY band with “The” in front of their name. There’s an appealing element of sincerity to each of these tracks, despite any musical imitation; if Logic launches The Stills into the mainstream consciousness, it’s easy to imagine that one day, kids might even want to sound like them. [www.thestills.net]