The majority of Post Stardom Depression grew up in the United States capitol of unemployment, Tacoma Washington. It's a place where boredom and broken promises breed into an army of adolescent alcoholics, each harbouring the same healthy disrespect for the authorities. It has been called home by Kurt Cobain, the Sonics and through native Bing Crosby, Tacoma gave David Bowie someone to sing christmas carols with.
After years of calling guitarist Kyong Kims couch his home, Jeff Angell came to the conclusion that they had more in common than the ability to generate court dates.
"We were both looking for a way to escape, and other than the activities that involved killing brain cells, the only idea we were entertaining was entertainment." They watched a couple videos, decided that Rock n Roll didn't seem to require any real talent, and chose it as a means to an end.
Looking for like-minded musicians wouldn't prove to be a problem. They knew a lanky bass player named Brent Saunders who had also been frequenting Kyong Kims home for wayward boys, and soon after meeting drummer Joshua Fant, they convinced him that he should trade in any chance of financial stability for a pair of drumsticks. Together, as Post Stardom Depression, they played their first show in a backyard-wrestling ring. Between matches they staggered through their tales of lost love and personal decay with the kind of confidence only found at the bottom of a beer bottle.
After only a handful of shows they were touring with the Queens of the Stone Age as well as the soon to be late Dee Dee Ramone. The "Queens" suggested producer Chris Goss, and Post Stardom Depression recorded their "Sexual Uno" E.P. for Seattles Will Records. They then graduated into major label limbo.
Where they began plotting their revenge.
Too dumb to quit?
Probably.......
However, if you call yourself an artist and you feel the need to conduct sleep deprivation experiments in New Orleans or, if you've never swam under the full moon in the Gulf of Mexico, what you can do, is disguise your vacation as a tour, and that's exactly what Post Stardom Depression did. When they recovered they contacted industry favorite Jack Endino and together they delivered the record they were trying to make before everything got so complicated.
"Ordinary Miracles" is eleven Delicious songs captured in the same filthy form they take on stage or in a rehearsal room. It is the sound of obstacles being overcome. It's music made by people because they dont have anything else and they dont know any better.
Since their 2000 debut, Sexual Uno, much has been made of POST STARDOM DEPRESSION 's supposed similarities to early Alice Cooper, as well as the New Wave of Detroit "garage" bands but the comparison doesn't hold water. POST STARDOM DEPRESSION is a clear evolution of Northwest heavy rock, from Alice In Chains to Tad and Nirvana, tied together with the sex and swagger of Mark Lanegan-esque lead vocalist Jeff Angell. The chugging rhythms and badass guitar solos on "These Days A Dollar" and "The Last Word" show that these Washington natives can bring the rawk, while the creepy "Ambulance Chaser" and the come-hither dirge "Make My Telephone Ring" show that Angell and company are more than a one-trick pony. On Prime Time, this one-time dark horse noses ahead of the competition.
POST STARDOM DEPRESSION flew like some drugged out Brian Jonestown Rolling Stone Psychedelic Groove Massacre.
There's a close-up on a scorpion sunning itself on an abandoned desert highway. A huge black tire crushes it into the asphalt as a muscle car hauls ass down the road into the setting sun. As the sun disappears blow the horizon, the muscle car makes a pit stop at a strip club. Our hero, dressed in muscle t-shirt and long greasy hair, exits the car and enters the bar. Cut to our hero at the bar, a line of emptied shotglasses (tequila) in front of him. He walks to the stage where a stripper gyrates. He pulls the stripper off the stage and over his shoulder, smacking her ass a few times. A bouncer approaches but steps back when our hero reaches behind his back (a gun perhaps?), but it turns out to just be a pair of reflector shades that he puts on and walks out of the strip club. The muscle car peels out of the strip club, leaving smoke and dust flying, the stripper dancing out of the sun-roof of the muscle car.
Tacoma, Washington's POST STARDOM DEPRESSION provides the soundtrack to the above short film with their first full-length, Ordinary Miracles. This album is comprised of three- to four-minute songs of mainstream rock much in the vein of Soundgarden or the Cult with heavy guitars and melodic, sometimes Alice in Chains-like vocals. For a few years, Post Stardom Depression was in major-label limbo thanks to Interscope Records, for whom they recorded a bunch of songs that now sit in the label's vaults gathering dust. Perhaps it for the best, because the rock climate is more accepting of this type of tuneage with bands like Queens of the Stoneage bringing back "the rock" to the airwaves.
Ordinary Miracles kicks off with the strutting rocker "Monster," which begins with the lyrics of "Sometimes I feel like I just wanna fuck," alerting you that this album transmits straight from the crotch. Cars, drugs, money, and pussy - that about sums up the lyric breath of Ordinary Miracles.
"The Whore I Am" sounds like it could be the anthem of LA's Sunset Strip circa 1989 mixed with a Sponge song. It's got an alt-rock bridge that flows into a straight rock'n'roll chorus about "doin' all types of nasty to you." The best track on here, "Who Cares Come On," is an up-tempo number about an abusive relationship that both partners seemingly enjoy. So crack open a cold one, cut yourself a line of blow, tell your girlfriend to quit her bitchin', and turn up the stereo - the rock has arrived.
Tacoma, Washington's POST STARDOM DEPRESSION swaggers through the door with a beer in one hand and a Marshall stack in the other, ready to stomp the stage in romantic frustration. Front person Jeff Angell can't seem to hold a relationship together, but his broken heart is the fuel that burns in the band's no-nonsense hard rock engine. Cuts like "Let's Destroy," "Pasadena" and "The Whore I Am" exploit volume and melody in the classic manner. It doesn't hurt that Angell has a grainy, soulful voice made for this stuff, which allows him to get away with lines like "I worship at your shrine/'Cause goddamn you're divine" without embarrassment. Michael Toland
Though their progression from Tacoma to Seattle was a short journey, POST STARDOM DEPRESSION sound as if they've traveled through time to get here--all the way from Detroit circa 1973, when Brownsville Station and Alice Cooper could have influenced this quartet's loud, overdriven sound. Their new album, Ordinary Miracles, is party music, the kind that kicks in the front door and walks straight to bedroom with a rack of beer on one shoulder and a trashy chick hanging off the other while Jeff Angell sings, "Sometimes I feel like I just want to fuck." Now how's that for an opening line? Angell uses his husky voice to sing about cheap hotels, cars with big backseats, and lots of sex. Post Stardom Depression's songs are hot promises and smoldering observations, the sound of the life the cool kids lived straight out of high school.
KATHLEEN WILSON
Hailing from Seattle WA, POST STARDOM DEPRESSION continue the tradition of great bands who will kick you in the nuts without remorse. Mixing metal, post-grunge and hard driving rock and roll with a bluesy cadence, PSD harkens back to the heyday of Gun N Roses. Jefferson Angell reminds would-be rockers what a front-mans role is as he saunters through each track with arrogant confidence. Musically, the band incorporates Stones-like riffs with an equally greasy bravado yet, remain diverse enough to hold the listeners attention. Prime Time Looks A Lot Like Amateur Night is necessarily better than bands previous two releases but rather an expansion of their talent.
TONY ENGELHART
I realize that grunge is a dirty word in our local lexicon, but Seattle's POST STARDOM DEPRESSION exemplify all that people loved about that genre without cloyingly aping the acts of its heyday. Frontman Jeff Angell has a rough-hewn edge to his voice--one that, given a couple years and some harrowing near-death experiences, could land somewhere near Mark Lanegan's. His delivery moves seamlessly with the dirgey mood of this hard-rocking collective, swaggering through a rollercoaster of libidinous choruses and introspective balladry. Live, they're a spectacle to behold. JENNIFER MAERZ
It doesn't take the title of the fourth song on POST STARDOM DEPRESSION's latest release to prove frontman Jeff Angell is an unrepentant ambulance chaser. But "Ambulance Chaser," from Prime Time Looks a Lot Like Amateur Night, hammers home the point-"Baby don't ask me where I've been/I'm just an accident waiting to happen," Angell rasps like the devil you change the locks on only to booty call one troubled night's sleep later. This Seattle quartet plays quintessential Bad Boy Rock-the kind of stuff the Cult sweated between the music sheets when they were turning the charm on strong. And there's no lower level for PSD, whose libido is on re-and often on trial-in Prime Time.Angell plays the tortured artist well-on "Make My Telephone Ring," he's a dog begging for a bone, and on "The Great Big Burn" he's on bended knee again, lamenting, "You shared my bed, you said my name, and what do I get in return?/It's all been a great big burn." Prime Time is one long headfuck, a blur of "reckless romance" and the dark days that ensue. But Angell and crew only sound tattered in the frontman's verbal admissions-the music is thrillingly dark, melodic alt rock, placing much weight on bombastic beats and chainsaw-edged riffs. PSD's second album sounds much larger than their stories of backstabbers and heart attacks-especially on the U2-inuenced ballad "The Last Word"-but mired in the muck of a dirty mind and dirgy instrumentals to match.
Following the all-too-typical major label story, POST STARDOM DEPRESSION is back with their debut full-length, Ordinary Miracles. You know the story, the one where band gets signed, records record, record sits on the shelves while band loses major label deal, only to fight for a few years to get the rights to their record back before putting it out on an indie label.
Worth the wait, the hard rockin', blues-influenced, post-punk explosion of POST STARDOM DEPRESSION's Ordinary Miracles quickly destroys any doubt that the band did the right thing by sticking it out and continuing down the road, despite the headaches and red tape.From the opening of "Monster", where lead singer Jeff Angell proclaims, "sometimes I just wanna fuck", you know you're in for a good time, partying, hard rock record that will fulfill even the most jaded of rockers.
Soaked with metal influences, the slow burning, heavy rocker finds you sinking in quicksand, as you relax and stop fighting it, realizing that is exactly where you want to be.
"The Whore I Am" keeps you rocking, the buzzing guitars, loud rhythm section, and deep, dark vocals of Angell the perfect combination to keep things tight, energetic, and ultimately fun.
The appropriately titled "Boom Boom Boom" gets a bit psychedelic, the atmospheric, heavy rocker moving so slowly as it wanders around your mind, you don't know whether to embrace it or be afraid of it, but you through caution to the wind and do both.
Quickly succeeding "Boom Boom Boom", "Mama's Boys" dishes up a song that wouldn't be out of place on an album of Pearl Jam and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion collaborating together.
If you're in the mood for dark, moody blues equipped with more rock than blues, and plenty of metal influences too, than POST STARDOM DEPRESSION's hard rock sound is what you'll want. It's a mind melting, brain freeze experience that puts many others to shame. I'll give it an A-
Alex Steininger
Seattle's POST STARDOM DEPRESSION seems far from recovery. In fact, the melodic alt-rock quartet still preens and postures like a bunch of cocksure rock stars. But it fits the band's radio-ready hooks and MTV-ready looks.
POST STARDOM DEPRESSION Prime Time Looks a Lot Like Amateur Night (Control Group) don't be fooled by the clever peek-a-boo sleeve over the CD's case; this is tough swagger Rock & Roll with a gritty, dark whip
The only reason I know about this band is because they are from Tacoma, near where I live. A local radio station played 'Who Cares, Come On,' which is a really great song. They have mixed Alternative Rock with Classic Rock and I think it is great. My favorite songs are Boom Boom boom, When it comes to cars, Monster, and of course, Who cares come on. I think it sucks a lot that such a great band is being ignored. POST STARDOM DEPRESSION has become one of my favorite bands and I am very grateful the radio station played their song. (107.7 The end if you are ever in the Seattle Area...great rock station. It was hard to find this CD...I got it from Amazon.com. Get this CD. At least listen to Who cares come on and any other song on here...get a feel for this excellent band.
I am still in awe of this album. I have been listening to it nonstop since I got it 5 days ago. It is excellent from start to finish, beginning to end. I remember the first time I heard this band was at a live performance in a small theatre. They put on an absolutely unbelievable show that I will remember for the rest of my life. They are a band that is charismatic and passionate and even more importantly than that, they are honest. They write music from their souls and they dont cater it to any trends (thank God) or attempt to be another one hit wonder, dime a dozen, good for nothing sell out pop band that everyone will forget about in 6 months.No, Post Stardom Depression is pure, dirty rock n roll. They live and breath rock n roll. This is music that transcends time, like Led Zeppelin. They leave the listener thinking: "I wish I would have written that song." Primetime is the follow up to their first full length album "Ordinary Miracles" (also brilliant and highly recomendable). In my effort to describe the sound of Post Stardom Depression I would say that they are a highly original band that combines incredible individual talent of each of its members to form a well rounded smooth and talented rock group that is the pinnacle of success in terms of how a band should function. Their sound is a new twist on dirty blues-rock with their own grungy spin.The band was spawned in the Seattle-Tacoma scene, saw immediate success, signed a major label record deal, was unhappy with the direction the label was forcing them to take their music, and thought better of the situation and returned home to make the album that they wanted. That is the most respectable decision the band could have made. Turning down potential wealth and fame for real rock music.Jeff Angell is an excellent lyricist and talented singer. His voice is addicting. He has an excellent range, amazing tone, and creates perfect melodies for each and every song. Kyong Kim digs in on guitar with some of the best rock riffs I have ever heard. He has an excellent sense of melody and uses this to the bands advantage when writing memorable guitar parts in songs like "What You See Is What You Get." Joshua Fant and Brent Saunders (drums and bass respectively) hold the rythm with precision and originality. Saunders has bass lines that feel so good they make your hair stand up on the back of your neck, and Joshua Fant hits the snare like he means it. Listen to the drums on "The One That Got Away" and you will think to yourself: "Damn."I could write about this band for hours. If you like good old rock n roll as it should sound then this band is for you. Jimmy Page would smile to himself if he heard this and say "Yeah I think they've got it! I think they figured it out." If I could give you one piece of advice it would be this: Buy the album, and then go see the band live. It will change your life, I guarantee it. Keep up the good work you guys. Rock Steady!!!Scott Minnich
