Here in New York, March going out like a lamb is cold comfort when April oozes in after it like a frigid, rainy piece of shit. That, along with several other personal difficulties troubleing both sides of the still-functioning portion of my brain, has got me listening to The Chinese Stars‘ second full-length, Listen To Your Left Brain on repeat. Somewhere around track 3 my synesthesia starts to really kick in and I’m tasting Summer. And it sounds like some incredibly sleazy insects rubbing teenaged ladies on my tongue. Left Brain, could this, 2007, be the best summer ever? Certainly for me, if not for the ladies….

This time around The Chinese Stars have added some disco-damaged synth lines to the infectiously spastic dance recipe they all but perfected on A Rare Sensation. Listen To Your Left Brain is certainly their most accessible release yet, and a far cry from the of the ear-drum hemorraging noise found on many of Arab on Radar’s (the singer Eric Paul and the drummer Craig Kureck’s previous group) later releases. It is not hard to imagine (at least not for me) a pack of 20 year old chicks tricked into grinding their leotards together to “Left Brain” or “All My Friends Are Getting High” by some deviant DJ who slipped The Chinese Stars into a Tokyo Police Club/New Young Pony Club sandwich. But what keeps The Chinese Stars a cut or ten above the aforementioned bands is not just their pedigree, although with members from Providence, RI’s Arab on Radar, Mahi Mahi, and, (until quite recently) the hugely seminal Six Finger Satellite, that is considerable. Nor is it Paul Vieira’s impressively infectious guitar melodies or brain-bogglingly fucked up guitar tones, although–now that I’m on listen number six–they are really starting to smell amazing. No, for my sweaty cash, it is Eric Paul’s bottomless well of creepy, androgynous, ranting sleaze. Imagine the sound of The Chamberlain from The Dark Crystal (pictured to the right), in short-shorts and aviators, trying to get you into the back of his toyota van. As dancey and disco-funky as The Chinese Stars get–and their rythm section can pretty much take you there–Eric’s skin-crawling lyrics and breathy delivery keep their songs on the right side of crazy, and make Listen To Your Left Brain a wicked glove slap on the ass of what is passing for summer jams on your iPod. Get it and taste the visble excitement in your trouser area.

check out the “Left Brain” mp3 here

BAND SITE: http://www.thechinesestars.com
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/thechinesestars
31G: http://www.threeoneg.com

Track Listing:
1. Drugs And Sunshine
2. Cold Cold Cold
3. Left Brain
4. All My Friends Are Getting High
5. Bored With This Planet
6. Shake Off The Nurse
7. Teeth Marks
8. TV Grows Arms
9. The Drowning