[3.5/5]
Perhaps the best way to describe the fourth full-length from Canadian collective Stars is that it's more war than bedroom. The band have finally created songs as big as their love-and-death themes-tunes perfectly tailored to the Morrissey-esque keening of Torquil Campbell. Co-vocalist Amy Millan still can take the edge off Campbell's drama, but the overall lack of introversion-best heard on "Take Me To The Riot," which is reminiscent of U2, and the disco stomper "The Ghost Of Genova Heights"-puts Stars right in your eyes, where they belong. And the title track is the band's biggest, boldest statement yet, a heartbroken ballad whose inside-out optimism ("The dead are all living/The war is over/And we are beginning") raises it to a heavenly height. (ARTS&CRAFTS) Dan LeRoy
 Official Website: http://www.arts-crafts.ca
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