Stars Of Aviation - Snow on Snow

  by John Clarkson

published: 8 / 5 / 2003

---

Review

Geography has always gone against the Stars of Aviation. Originally based in Cambridge, the four-piece British group was founded by a set of language undergraduates in October 1999, and released, under its original moniker of Florence, its first CD, the five song ‘The Ted Glen EP’, three months later in early 2000. With vocalist Jonny Anstead away in Lyon on university work experience throughout much of 2000 ; keyboardist Nathan Oxley in Geneva, and guitarist Andy Schofield in St Petersburg , and only drummer Tim Jaggard back home in the UK, the band’s second EP, the four track,‘The Greatest Disappointment’, did not, however, follow until mid 2001. All the members of the group have returned to Britain, but, now graduated, live scattered across the length of the country from Brighton to Edinburgh, and it has taken a further two years for their third offering, ‘Snow on Snow’, to emerge. While the Stars of Aviation’s progress has been frustratingly slow, their dogged persistance, getting together as and when they can despite such locational odds, has paid off. With the four song, thirteen minute ‘Snow on Snow’, the band, who last time around drew favourable critical comparisions with Mercury Rev, the Flaming Lips and Grandaddy, have created an often mesmerising work that builds neatly upon the grandiloquent, reflective tensions of their first two outings. The majestic title track combines hazy, slowly strummed guitars and pealing church bell keyboards with a mysterious, stark lyric from Anstead about an expedition to the North Pole. It begins softly, gradually surges upwards and then peaks in a great frenzy of sound, before fading away in a low level hum of feedback. The effect is stunning. ‘Illumined’, the second track, which was written in St Petersburg, is in a similar vein. At only two and half minutes in length, rather than the nearly five minute running time of ‘Snow on Snow’, it comes too a head too quickly though, and lacks the lingering force and emotional impact of its predecessor. The delightful ‘Stars of Aviation are singing about the summer, but is it going to be sunny, Carol ?’, however, finds the band back on form and has a tingling carousel sound. It pays amusing lip service to a weather girl on the BBC’s 'Look East’ regional news programme, and climaxes with a gorgeous waltzing keyboard solo. The last track on 'Snow on Snow' is the the super-melodic ‘Love is Only in Your Mind’, which brings the EP to a convincing and suitably breezy end. The Stars of Aviation’s musical outings have always been rare, and their output small. On the evidence of this though, as they also did on 'The Greatest Disappointment', they prove once again to be an act very much worth taking the long wait for.

Track Listing:-

1 Snow on Snow
2 Illumined
3 Stars of Aviation are singing about the summer, bu
4 Love is only in your mind