Stella Luce

Take Una Volta-era DeVotchKa, subtract Nick Urata’s Morrissey
croon and replace it with the sometimes-Ani-DiFranco,
sometimes-Sarah-Vaughan vocals of Alana Rolfe, add a little more flair
for weird noises, and you might get something that sounds like this
Fort Collins-based act. The band’s violin-based pop bears a broad range
of influences, from lounge to Eastern Bloc to indie shoegaze. Eclectic
yet satisfyingly consistent, Zugenruhe, Stella Luce’s debut
long-player, is well-rooted and hook-based. Some moments work better
than others (the album’s first track, “Prelude,” for instance, sounds
like a horror-movie soundtrack and gets grating after about the first
thirty seconds), while the smoldering seduction of songs like
“Esteban’s Fishing Song” and the soaring builds of “Beltbomb Machine”
make the album worth repeated listens.